Storybook Crisis
by Gemin16
Summary: *Completed* AU. When Hermione opens an old book written by Albus Dumbledore, she gets sucked into a new world where her life is completly different. Now she must incounter wizards, witches, trolls, dragons and a certain redheaded archer....^_^
1. Chapter 1: A Girl and Her Cat

Storybook Crisis

By: Gemin16

Chapter 1: A Girl and Her Cat

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. 

A/N: I will state this because it's an important element! This is an AU and therefore things will be different so please don't flame me if your not happy. I warned you. Thanks and enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Girl and Her Cat

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Hermione Granger layed on her bed and stared into the ceiling. Anyone who looked at her thought she was a normal teenager but anyone who knew her well knew that she wasn't as normal as she should have been. She looked young for her age, a little underdeveloped and her hair was frizzy and often unkempt. 

She was one of the top students in her class with top marks and a good conduct record. While most of her teachers praised her, most of the students loathed and often ignored her. She belonged in many academic clubs and kept her mind to her studies. She was friends with the faculty and didn't have much of a social life. She had very few friends unless you counted the ones in stories and books.

Sir Lancelot, Robin Hood, Nancy Drew, King Author, she had became friends with the fictional characters in the books. They were her only escape from the life of a nerd, since that was what most of the students called her. She knew them like the back of her hand but the only problem was that they didn't know her back. She was lonely but didn't bother addressing herself to them. The cheerleaders, the jocks, the preps and popular kids, even kids outside those groups avoided her. They harassed her but she ignored them.

Hermione sat up and looked at her room. A nice, well-kept desk stood in front of her. Her dresser was organized with her clothes and only had her textbooks on top of it. Her mirror was rarely used and was dusty, the only things that seemed to be in frequent use was her bookshelf and her desk. The only other thing in use was her cat, Crookshank's, basket. The ginger colored cat was the only other friend that Hermione had claimed to. He was the only one that she could confide her deepest secrets to and he wouldn't care. He would listen to her and answer with either a yawn or a meow.

This particular Saturday morning, Hermione found herself doing absolutely nothing. She had done all her weekend homework that night and had done a bit of studying. She looked at her clock, which read eight forty-five. Most kids would have been in bed still asleep or getting ready to go hang with their friends but Hermione was waiting patiently for the library to open in fifteen minutes. It was a bit pathetic but she didn't care. Her worst fear was probably making a low grade point average that would stop her from getting into the college of her choice.

Her clock arm went to eight forty-six, the library opened in fourteen minutes. It was only a ten-minute walk from her house. She decided that she would leave now so she could get an early look at the new selection of books that came in every week. She sat up and looked at the sleeping lump of ginger fur that lay next to her.

"I'll be back later, Crookshanks," she said to him as she grabbed her jacket. Crookshanks opened an eyelid and looked at his owner. He seemed to acknowledge what his owner had said and went back to sleep. She shook her head and went downstairs where her mother and father sat at the kitchen table reading the local newspaper. "I'm leaving," Hermione said to them as she headed out the door.

"Have a good time, dear," her mother said. Hermione stepped outside and was greeted by the cold stormy air of mid February. She ignored it and walked down the street in the direction that the library was in. She looked across the street and saw the For sale sign that belong to a small two story house. It used to belong to her best friend's family. 

Amber Hathway had been Hermione's best friend since the sixth grade and since her dad was in the military, they had to move away. This time it was abroad, she moved all the way to America where Hermione heard little from her. She had missed Amber, she didn't care whether Hermione liked to study and read. Amber liked all that too. They planned their wedding together and stuff that two best friends would always do but ever since she moved, Hermione just went solo.

Another turn around a block and she reached the entrance to the old library. She looked at her watch and it read nine o' one. She looked inside and noticed the lights on, so she walked in without any hesitation. She walked inside and greeted the librarian with a smile. 

"Hello, Mrs. Green," she said to the old lady.

"Hello, Hermione, your here for the usual I suppose?"

"Yes."

"There over by the historical display dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. Green." Hermione walked over to the historical display whitch had a bunch of statues and displays from the middle ages. Hermione stared at one of the knights on a horse. "I wonder what it was like back them?" she asked herself. She looked over to the self with the new books on it and went over the titles pulling out the ones that she liked.

"The Red Pony, Starry Night, Life Among the Forest," she said quietly to herself as she took out the books. After about an hour of sitting and reading she took out five small books, and then she reached one without a title on the spine and took it out of the shelf. It was an old book with a tattered cover. She opened it to revel the title page with a picture of an old man with crescent moon glasses at the tip of his long nose. His smile could be revealed even in the long beard he had falling down what seemed to be a black robe. Hermione looked oddly at the picture and looked below the picture.

" 'The Mystical World' by Albus T. Dumbledore," she read to herself. "What kind of name is that?" 

All of a sudden she saw Mrs. Green standing next to her. "Hermione, your mother just called. She says she wants you home. A nasty storm is on the way and neither of them will be able to pick you up. If you hurry, I'll check out the books for you so you can be on your way."

Hermione nodded her agreement and handed the books she chose to Mrs. Green, who noticed the tattered book. "I don't know how this one ended up with these other ones but I'm glad that your taking it home. Most people ignore books in these poor conditions."

Hermione just smiled as Mrs. Green checked the books out. "The title sounds interesting so I wanted to read it," she told her.

"Well I hope you enjoy it." She handed Hermione the five small books and the large tattered one. "Better get home before that storm starts, it's supposed to be a nasty one."

Hermione gathered her books and put on her jacket. She walked outside where a gust of wind greeted her.

"Just lovely," she said to herself as she walked down the block. She looked at the stores on the block and saw the Valentine displays on the windows. It was mid February after all and Valentines Day would be in three days. Hermione wasn't expecting anything from anyone. She hadn't received a Valentine since elementary school, when the kids in the class was forced to give everyone a valentine whether they liked the person or not. Even then, Hermione never received more than a card with her name written messily on it. After grade school, she never received one again. 

She finally reached her house and opened the front door. "I'm home," she said loudly.

Her mother stepped out of the kitchen and greeted Hermione. Hello, I'm glad your back safely. Did you find any good books?"

"Yes, I did. I'll be in my room if you need me for anything." Hermione ran upstairs and entered her room. She shook her head as she saw Crookshanks in the same spot where she had left him.

"Lazy cat," she said with a smile as she placed her jacket in her closet. She set down all her books neatly on her desk and reached into a box that contained nothing but bookmarks. It was Hermione's collection that she started ever since she was old enough to read. She sat at her desk and looked out the window. It was storming outside. The trees blew and leaves flew out into the yard. Rain pounded on the glass frame of her window, but Hermione liked the sound; it helped her concentrate.

She looked at the pile of books that rested on her desk. "Which one should I start first?" she wondered out loud. Crookshanks by that time had made his way from Hermione's bed to her lap and yawned lazily and stretched. She rubbed his ears playfully and decided on the old tattered book. She didn't know why she chose it but it seemed to draw her in a way that she couldn't explain. Opening the book slowly, she yet again came upon the picture of the author with the weird name. 

"Albus Dumbledore," she said as she looked over the picture. Then the most peculiar thing happened.

Albus Dumbledore winked at her.

Hermione double blinked. "No way," she said to herself as she shook her head. She quickly turned the page and stumbled upon the introductory page. It had a strange picture of a young girl and a cat on the front. The girl seemed to be holding a stick in her hand and had on strange clothing.

Hermione turned the page and came upon a strange inscription. She looked at it strangely and began to read it out loud:

_Who ever so can read this, beware-_

_for the one who can is the only one who will care._

_With destiny's fate your must proceed-_

_to journey into this land and follow me._

_With a flick and a flam_

_and a wave of a stick-_

_your life will change and it will be quick._

_Emotions surged with hidden desire-_

_and courage found within burning fire._

_Evil has come and made it's mark-_

_deadlier than poison and worse than a shark._

_Only one has survived the words of death-_

_and his life holds secrets yet unkempt._

_Another one, so loyal and true, hair made of fire and eyes of deep blue, _

_will guide thy journey and show you anew._

_Come hither, yon reader and hear our cries-_

_brains can hide beauty for it's all inside._

_Nonsense can become wisdom and wisdom becomes life-_

_for it takes talent to keep one alive who strives._

_Hidden apast is the secret untold-_

_and speaks of two, none so bold._

_Keeping distance far away -_

_I called upon this ballad to break threw a phase._

_Magic-thought rare- can be found in anyone-_

_but it takes a particular type for the task that's to be done._

_For I may repeat- dear reader- beware,_

_my warning, I spoke once and that's all that is fair._

_For I see in your future more than you can-_

_all though you may think I'm a fair crazy man._

_My words speak truth as you'll shall see-_

_you'll become much more than what you think you can be._

_Light travels through darkness and darkness though light-_

_one is stronger- but who is to know unless one fights._

_Look out your window once more-_

_whether you see forest, road, or shore._

_Say farewell to your surroundings-_

_for your sure to see more!_

_You may be gone for some time- but time can fly quick,_

_and there's nothing that your going to miss._

_Follow me and do as I say,_

_for my next task you need to perform. Okay?_

_Put your hands across your face and clap twice with a wink-_

_keep them together and make a wish._

_Whether your wish can come true- I cannot guarantee,_

_just rest aside and put your faith in thee._

_Look around once more and say your goodbyes-_

_laughter and tears, wails and cries._

_Strange beings await you and much more galore-_

_clap twice more!_

_Now say Transporadore!_

Hermione did as she was told and said _Transporadore _as a lightning bolt struck a few miles later. All of a sudden a feeling of ice came over her and lifted her and Crookshanks above her seat for a second and then Hermione's mind went blank.

***

A constant meowing was what woke Hermione up. She opened up her eyes and looked strait into the eyes of her cat, who was laying on top of her lying form.

"What just happened?" she asked to no one. She sat up letting Crookshanks fall to the ground. Her eyes opened wide as she saw the scenery around her. "Crookshanks, I don't think we're in London no more." (A/N: I couldn't help myself.) Crookshanks just meowed and sat next to her. They were both sitting in a dense wooded area with little patches of light falling through the trees. All sorts of shrubs and plants layed at the foot of the trees and there was no sign of a living soul anywhere.

"This is a dream, isn't it?" She tried to stand up right away but winced in pain as she noticed her cut leg. "Guess not." Hermione looked at Crookshanks, who just looked at her with his cat expression. "Where are we?"

Just then Crookshanks jumped to life and started to hiss as a rustle could be heard from behind Hermione. She heard more noises and then heard a faint grunt and felt something heavy land its foot on the ground. She turned around slowly and saw two big green things standing ten feet away from her. Hermione's eyes traveled farther up and looked at the ugly, disfigured form of an a troll. "Oh no." 

She slowly turned back around and ran towards the base of an oak tree and pressed her body toward the trunk. Crookshanks hissed once more and ran in front of Hermione, claws and teethed bared. The troll snarled and made a step towards Hermione. Hermione was frozen with fear as she watched it come closer. Soon it was only five feet ahead of her and gaining range.

Then as if out of thin air an arrow came whizzing threw and landed itself in front of the troll. The troll looked at it, carelessly and was about to take another step when another arrow dug itself into his shoulder. It gave a grumble of pain as another one came and put it in the troll's other shoulder. It looked as if it tried to make up its mind and turned around and walked away with two arrows sticking out.

Hermione sat back along the tree with Crookshanks and breathed slowly for a second. _Where did those arrows come from? _Then she heard a noise come from above her, in the branches of the trees. "Who's there?" She yelled looking up.

"I am. Are you okay?"

Hermione found herself looking strait up twenty feet in the tree into a pair of deep blue eyes.

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Please read and review. It would really boost my spirit. Thank you!

Oh and if you have a better title for the story please let me know because I'm not really satisfied with it. Thanks again!

Adios,

Gemin16


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to the World of Magic

Storybook Crisis

by: Gemin16

Chapter 2: Welcome to the Land of Magic.........

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. 

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Two deep blue eyes stared down at Hermione. "I asked if you were okay?"

"I believe I'm fine," Hermione said as she relaxed and stood up. She winced as she felt pain coming from the cut on her leg. She looked back up and noticed the blue-eyed person gone from the branch.

"That's a pretty nasty cut you have there."

Hermione spun her head around to stare strait at a maroon shirt. She looked up and saw a boy looking down at her. The boy was extremely tall and had a head full of flaming red hair. He had a smirk on his face and had a smuge of dirt on his nose. Hermione noticed that he had a crossbow in his hand and a stalk full of arrows swung around his back. She sighed through her nose.

"Exactly where am I?" she asked boldly. She hated wasting time on small chat.

The boy snorted. "Did you have a memory charm put on you or something? Where else would you be? You're in the forbidden forest of Hogsmeade. What exactly are you doing here anyway?"

Hermione looked at him strangely. _Memory Charm? Hogsmeade?_ "If this forest is forbidden, then why are you in it?"

"I have permission to be in here. Let's see about that leg of yours." He bent down and removed a clean rag from his pocket and wiped Hermione's bleeding leg. She winced again as he wiped it and tied it around the cut with a piece of cord that he also pulled out of his pocket. "So will you answer my question? What exactly are you doing in this forest?"

Hermione noticed Crookshanks lying peacefully as if nothing had happened. _Lazy cat_. She looked down as the boy stood up. "I don't really know."

He looked at her strangely. "Sorry?"

Hermione gave a frustrated sigh. "Listen this may sound absolutely crazy to you but I was just sitting in my room, reading an old tattered book when all of a sudden I read this silly little rhyme and the next thing I know, me and my cat are in this strange place where a big giant green thing attacks us."

"It was a troll actually."

"I don't care if it was a goblin," she said yelling at this strange boy. "I have no clue where I'm at and it's all thanks to that stupid book written by Albus Dumbledore-"

"You mean you were reading a book by thee Albus Dumbledore?" the boy interrupted.

"Do you know who he is?"

"He's the best wizard in this land, that's who he is!"

"Wizard? Where exactly am I?"

The boy just looked at her funny. "You have no clue where you are and don't know who Albus Dumbledore is?"

Hermione scowled at him, of course she didn't have any clue where she was and she didn't know who Albus Dumbledore was. He should be able to tell that she wasn't from here just by the clothes they were wearing. She was just wearing a skirt, blouse, and sweater. He was wearing a maroon tunic with a pair of hand-sewn pants. His boots where made from some material that she couldn't identify. "Can you just explain to me where I am? And is there a way to get me home?" She had a frustrated look on her face.

The boy looked at her with a troubled look. "If you did what you said you did then I don't think I should tell you. Follow me." He started to walk off.

Hermione just looked at him as he walked away. Crookshanks was still lying there. "Come on you!" she said to him. She started to walk after him trying to keep up with him. Once she finally caught up with him, he started to ask her questions.

"So what's your name?"

"Hermione Granger."

"I'm Ron Weasley. How old are you anyway? Fourteen?"

"I'm sixteen actually."

"You sure don't look like it."

Hermione turned a little red. Sure she was a bit undeveloped but she didn't look that young. "Why is this forest forbidden?"

Ron turned his head to the right to look up in the branches of the trees. "Dangerous creatures are located in this area as well as a few other things. You wouldn't want to get eaten by a dragon now would you? That troll would have crushed you for sure."

"Well I didn't know, as to seeing that I had just came from no where. You still haven't told me exactly where I am yet."

"If it makes you happy, you're within the forest limits of Hogsmeade. About half a mile of a walk and we'll be within the city limits. Once we past by Hagrid's place."

"Who's Hagrid?"

"The keeper of this forest."

"Why are you in the forest?"

"It's none of your business," he replied bluntly.

"I was just wondering. If something's forbidden then you shouldn't be in it."

"You're a goody-goody, aren't you?"

"There's nothing wrong with following the rules, I mean they exist for a reason."

Ron shook his head and gave a laugh. "Boy, do you need to get your priorities strait." After that, they walked on quietly through the forest. Hermione's leg didn't hurt her anymore and she looked at the forest scenery. It was beautiful, the sunlight hit it perfectly giving off the right amount of light and with the birds chirping, it made it a pleasant seen. Of course that was before she heard a loud grumble in the bush. She jumped near Ron and walked closer to him.

"Exactly what was that?"

Ron looked undisturbed. "Huh, I guess it must have been another troll or maybe an ogre."

Hermione stayed no more than three feet away from him and his crossbow.

After almost half an hour of walking, they reached the edge of a forest where a small little cottage sat with a little smoke stacked chimney.

"Hagrid's not at home, so we should head on to the castle," he muttered to himself.

"Castle?"

Ron turned around and pointed towards the city. "Yeah, right over there."

Hermione turned around and stared breathlessly at the castle that sat smack in the middle of the busy city. It was obviously the tallest building in the city with it's towers pointing strait into the clouds. It looked old but it had a weird cozy feeling to it. The city itself was made of nothing but little houses or cottages but they were huddled together through out the entire area. People for miles around could be seen all over but what made the seen even weirder was that there were little stick figures in the air, gliding around.

"Uh, Ron, what exactly are those?" she asked him, pointing at them.

"Oh those are people and their flying on broomsticks." 

Hermione just stood there silently. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. _Broomsticks and flying?_ "But how?"

"Magic, what else," Ron said as he started walking on. 

"Magic? You mean it actually exist?"

"Of course it exists. Why wouldn't it? Come on, before it gets dark."

Hermione was going to snap back at him but decided against it. "Why are we going to the castle?"

"That's were Dumbledore is. He can tell you whatever you want to know."

"So you mean that he's the king of your land or something?"

Ron just looked at Crookshanks, who was trotting besides him. "No, he isn't our king. There is no king, just the Ministry. What's with your cat anyway?"

"His name is Crookshanks and he just acts that way."

"He's very strange for a huge lump of orange fur."

"Leave my cat alone!" She crossed her arms. "By the way if you're going to go to the castle, you should wipe the dirt on your nose," she said. Ron rolled his eyes and wiped the dirt from the side of his nose. They soon reached the suburb of Hogsmeade where Hermione could see hundreds of people walking around, all wearing funny robe looking clothing. She could hear people talking about all sorts of things. She even heard this one lady mumbling something about overpriced dragon livers.

"We're entering the city, so stay close to me. I'd keep that cat of yours in your arms or he'll run off chasing gnomes or something." Hermione grabbed Crookshanks and held his large body in her arms as they kept on walking. People gave her strange looks but Ron just ignored them and walked forward. Hermione noticed different shops as they walked. Some included Eyelop's Owlry, Flourish and Blotts, and a shop with a strange name that looked like Quidditch.

_Where exactly am I?_ Hermione asked herself.

As they walked further she saw many people traveling on broomsticks and children walking around with sticks in their hands. Many of them were yelling out funny words like _Expelliarmus_ and _Accio_. She even noticed a slightly large building with words spelling _The Daily Prophet_ and _Witches' Weekly_ on it. Hermione was in such a stage of amazement that she almost found herself lost in a large crowd but she also found it hard to loose sight of her tall, red headed guide.

After what seemed like an hour of walking through the massive city, the castle seemed closer than ever but Ron was almost leading her away from it. 

"Um, Ron, isn't the castle that way?" she called to him.

"We can't go in that way. The security is much to difficult to deal with, I have another way of entering." He led her into an alley and out into what seemed to a dead end. Ron stopped and so did Hermione. She let Crookshanks out of her arms and watched as Ron took off his pack of arrows and set his crossbow down.

"Why are we here?"

"If you want your questions answered than we have to go in this way." He took out a stick from the pack of arrows and counted the bricks on the wall. He reached a weird looking one counted around it and gave it a tap with the stick. Hermione gasped as she saw the wall completely start to open to reveal a small alley that was bare. Ron picked up his arrows and bow and nodded towards her. "Come on."

Hermione did as she was told and her and Crookshanks followed him inside. The wall made a colliding sound as it closed itself back up. Ron just ignored it and walked on further up the empty alley. Hermione noticed that they were rounding the castle and seemed to be facing its back side. It was a really huge castle now that she was closer to it than ever. The towers seemed endless as they circled the main building. Hundreds of owls seemed to be flying in and out through the windows, some of them were flying together carrying large packages and some where carrying no more than a piece of parchment.

"Amazing."

Soon they reached a small cottage near the entrance with a quaint little chimney giving off smoke. Ron walked up the steps and gave a slight tap on the door. Hermione just watched as Ron knocked again only louder and waited for an answer.

After a minute and three more knockings. The door finally opened and a man wearing a shabby robe stepped out. He had a head full of patchy gray and light brown hair and was holding a stick in his hand. "Sorry about that. Hello Ron, what brings you around at this hour." It was starting to get dark.

"I have something important to show to Dumbledore, Mr. Lupin."

"Really?"

Ron looked over at Hermione, who was standing at the bottom of the steps and whispered something into his ear.

Remus's face went from a cheerful grin to a serious expression. He looked at Hermione and smiled calmly at her. "Bring her in. It's getting cold out here." He walked back inside with Ron following he turned at Hermione. 

"Come on, Remus's a friend." Hermione followed with Crookshanks at her heels. 

Inside the cottage, it was cozy and small. Right when you entered, there was the kitchen with a small table and a stove cooking food all by itself. Hermione just watched as Ron set his things by the door and sat down at the table where Lupin had a tea set waiting. He motioned for Hermione to come and sit down and she did.

"Would like some tea, young lady?" Remus asked politely.

"Yes please." He served her a cup and set it down in front of her. He gave one to Ron and sat down himself.

"Unfortunately Dumbledore is in a serious meeting with the Ministry and won't be done till then," he said to Ron with a serious expression. "It'll be about an hour so the two of you can stay for dinner." He turned to Hermione. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Remus Lupin and you might be?"

"I'm Hermione Granger." Just then Crookshanks leaped onto her lap and meowed. "And this would be Crookshanks."

Lupin smiled. "Does Crookshanks like milk?" Crookshanks meowed and jumped down and sat on the floor. Lupin got up and retrieved a saucer of milk and set it in front of Crookshanks. "Wonderful cat you have here."

"Thank you," Hermione said quietly. Lupin sat back down and turned to Ron. 

"Is your mother expecting you to be out this late?"

"She knows I was going to be out in the forest but no I guess not."

"Go ahead and use Hedwig and tell her you'll be staying for dinner." Ron stood up and went into another room. Lupin shook his head and looked at Hermione. "Why don't you explain to me what happened? I'm quite curious."

Hermione explained everything that happened from that morning to the evening. Remus just sat there and listened only excusing himself once to step into the next room after Ron had reappeared and listened in. He hadn't heard everything from her. At the end, Lupin nodded and went to go check on the cooking. "Very interesting."

"Do you believe me?" Hermione asked him.

"I certainly do. It makes sense," he said sincerely. Hermione smiled. It was good to know that at least one person would believe her story. She wasn't quite sure what Ron thought about it all, not that she really cared.

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked Remus.

"He's at that meeting with Sirius right now. How was the forest?"

"Same as usual. Boring."

"But it seems that you fought off a troll. More or less that seems interesting."

"Three arrows were all it took to scare it, besides I can't let it kill innocent victims." Hermione just stared down at the table watching Crookshanks drink his milk.

Remus laughed and looked at Hermione. "I hope you like vegetable soup." She nodded. He served her a bowl and sat it down in front of her and served some for Ron and himself.

Right after dinner, Lupin looked at the clock above the stove and took out a stick from his robes. He pointed to the sink and let the dishes wash themselves. "The meeting should be over with, so we should be going. Come on, Hermione, we'll see if Dumbledore can fix your problem."

Hermione nodded and followed him into another room with Crookshanks at her heels and Ron right behind her with his arrows and crossbow.

_He must bring those where ever he goes_, she thought to herself. Remus led them through a door that automatically connected the cottage to the castle. They went from being in a small room to a large cold empty hall lit by torches. Their footsteps could be heard as they walked northward to what Hermione thought was the main building. 

"I live in the cottage with my best friend and his godson, Harry," Lupin explained to her. "We have a close relationship with Dumbledore and the Ministry so we get to live right next to the castle. Dumbledore should still be in the main hall when we get there so it shouldn't be to difficult to find him. Besides if you're from another world, he'll be sure to want to meet you."

"Oh. I saw a picture of him, he looks like a kind man."

"He is, and a brilliant one for that fact. If there's anyone that can help you, it's him."

By the sound of Remus's voice, Hermione believed him. They climbed a few more steps before finally coming to regular size metal door. Lupin gave it a gentle tap with his stick and the door opened silently. He motioned for Hermione to follow him and she did. She followed him inside and almost gasped at the sight she saw. She had walked into what was a large banqueting hall covered in bright decorations. In front of her stood many people dressed in fancy robes and discussing many things. Lupin grabbed her wrist gentle and guided her through a crowd of people with Crookshanks and Ron right behind her. As they walked along, she noticed a large table in the front with different people sitting at it. It seemed that Lupin was leading her in that direction.

"Remus, what brings you here? Me and Harry were just about to head on home." A tall man had came up next to Lupin and blocked him from his direction. He wore a black robe and had shaggy shoulder length black hair and was holding a cup filled with something in his right hand.

"Hello, Sirius, staying for the party, I suppose," Remus said wryly.

"Well, nothing wrong with a drink now is there? Besides the meeting just ended and people are starting to leave." He laughed and spotted Hermione. "Who's she?"

"She's the exact reason why I'm here. I need to see Dumbledore."

"I'll be right back, wait a second." Sirius left for a second. Hermione stood there with Remus and spun around to see Ron talking with another guy dressed in green robes around his age. He was about half a head shorter than Ron and had a head full of unruly black hair and wore glasses. He nodded at Hermione with his green eyes and went back to talking to Ron.

"He'll be with you in a second, Remus." Sirius had come back and it looked like he refilled his drink.

After a few minutes, the hall was left empty with only a few people standing around and the people sitting at the table. Among them, the one sitting in the direct middle, Hermione recognize. It was Albus Dumbledore. His beard was long and white with his blue robes underneath his hair. Half moon shaped eyeglasses sat on his nose as he spoke to a black haired woman sitting to the right of him. He looked over in the direction Hermione was standing in and smiled.

Remus looked at Hermione and smiled. "Come on, he won't bite you."

Hermione followed him with Crookshanks by her side and they walked right in front of the table. Hermione felt dozens of pairs of eyes staring at her and all of a sudden wanted to run away. She stood with Lupin and watched as Dumbledore fixed the glasses on his nose. "Thank you, Remus." Lupin walked away.

"So according to an owl I received you come from another world, Ms. Granger."

"Yes, sir," Hermione said quietly.

Dumbledore smiled at her and took out his own stick. _What is it, some sort of wand?_ Hermione thought. 

"Why don't you have a seat and then we'll hear your story." He pointed his wand at her and a chair formed right behind her. She sat down upon it and found it rather comfortable even with Crookshanks jumping on her lap to lie down.

"Please proceed in telling your tale."

For the third time that day, Hermione explained every detail in her day. Some of the other people sitting around him looked at her funny as she told them.

Dumbledore said the exact thing that Lupin had said. "Interesting."

_Lovely_, Hermione thought sarcastically. 

"Apparently, I did write that book. A very long time ago but I do recalling writing it. It came to me in a dream, someone asked me to write a book and put an enchanted spell on it. For in those times a seer had predicted the trouble we are facing now."

Hermione just stared at him.

"You see, Ms. Granger, our world is in dire needs. There is an evil wizard going around who calls himself Lord Voldemort (everyone except himself, the boy standing next to Ron, Lupin and Sirius flinched) running muck among our lands. Him and his group of Death Eaters go around and kill innocent victims for fun. No one in this world can stop him for he is that powerful. It's a hard life for us, for we don't know whether he is among us or when he will strike next. People go on and live with their lives but fear is always around for no where is safe. Once you become a victim, the chance of surviving are almost one in a billion. Only one person in this world has survived his deadly spell and he stands among us now. Mr. Harry Potter." Everyone in the room looked at the young man who was standing next to Ron. He smiled weakly and looked at Dumbledore, who chuckled. 

"But what does this have to do with me?" Hermione asked.

"Well I believe that you just happen to fall under the enchantment of the book."

"Is there anyway to bring me and Crookshanks back?"

"I'm afraid I can't do a thing."

Hermione's heart fell, she was at least hoping to get back by this evening. Her mother and father would probably be worried sick about her. If she were to stay, she would fall behind on her homework and she would never be able to catch up. It seemed very hopeless. Tears were welding up in her eyes. "So that means I can never go back home?"

Dumbledore and the other people gave her a sympathetic smile. Another wave of his wand and a handkerchief appeared in her hands. "The only way you can go back home is when the story ends. You came in from the beginning and won't be able to go back till the very last sentence in the story. It's how the enchantment works and I can't break it. I'm sorry, Ms. Granger, but I do believe that your coming into this world does mean a great deal more in your benefit."

"I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"Our world is a magical one, if you haven't already drawn that conclusion. Everyone living here is either a wizard or a witch and we coexist with magical creatures as you have experienced. Ms. Granger, you said that you fell upon this world when you said the last word in the ballad. _Transporadore. _Well the only way you could have done that is if you, yourself have magical powers."

Hermione's brown eyes opened wide as she looked directly into his. "What are you saying?"

"You, Ms. Granger, are a witch."

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Fifteen reviews! I can't believe that. I'm jumping for joy (still is). 

I have a lot of people to thank!

Let's see there's: evyfleur (who was my first review for this story!), Pansy Potter, Ginny, Red1, Shadowcat, Atemis-Chan

Charlie(+ Sam), Lalaine, Ptip, Evelyn Granger, pokey, Rebecca Padfoot Weasley, the one and only taya, timeseeker, DarkIllusion, Jazz/Pizza, and Adnap Nottap.

Thanks for reviewing!!!!!

So Hermione falls into a world and is led by the blue eyed archer/wizard to castle. What will happen next? Guess you'll have to read to find out.

I had about three people tell me that the idea about Ron being an archer reminds them of the guy from Lord of the Rings (I forgot his name). I'm in the middle of reading the book and haven't seen the movie yet but I never thought about it until you told me. Cool!

I'll also take this time to do some shameless promoting. ^_^

I have other Harry Potter fics out there. Two to be precise.

Triple the Trouble, Triplet the Fun!- a Humor/Action-Adventure/Romance fic about the seven years at Hogwarts for the offspring of George Weasley with the appearance of other characters' kids, including Ron and Hermione's. 

The other one out there, April Fools is kinda of a prequel to TTTF and is a fluffy George/Katie fic!

I have much more to add-

For those of you who haven't read it, you must! I guarantee you that it's really good.

Runaway Fox is a great fic about Ron five years after graduating Hogwarts and the plot to this is among the best I've ever read. It's a must read!

Um let's see what else. Oh yeah.

_The Hermione Granger Fan Club_ has some hilarious fics out there if you haven't already tried. I personally trhink their perfect for a good laugh.

That's all for shameless promoting! If I see any other fics out there I'll promote absolutely free!

Adios and til next time,

Gemin16


	3. Chapter 3: A Newfound Destiny

Storybook Crisis

by: Gemin16

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 3: A Newfound Destiny 

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Hermione's eyes opened slowly as the sunlight hit her face. It felt warm and comforting as she slowly awoke and sat up in her bedroom. The thing was, it really wasn't her bedroom.

It had been about three months since Hermione fell into the book entitled the _Enchanted World_, and she was still settling into her new bedroom chamber on the northeastern tower of Hogwarts Castle. It became her permanent residence until she was to return to her world but no one knew when that would be. Dumbledore had told her that he didn't remember the ending of the story and that she would just have to be patient and wait. Of course this left Hermione slightly crossed with him but her anger had subsided when she truly discovered what kind of world she was transported to.

In her mind, the city of Hogsmeade almost functioned almost like London except, well, there was magic everywhere you stepped. There were stores and marketplaces to accommodate the needs of the people. Jobs were plentiful, schools existed for the children, and there was a higher authority of protection for them called Aurors. The one thing that amazed Hermione was that the wizards and witches weren't dependant upon electricity or gadgets to get on with everyday life. If they wished to light a room, all it took was a flick of their wand to light a candle or simply transform one. They also didn't depend on noisy and air polluting cars to get around. They either apparated or took a broomstick to wherever they wished to go.

Also present in the city was a massive hospital, bank, and a jail that was located in the mountains northward, plus the castle in the middle. The castle itself served as the main government building, or also known as the Ministry of Magic, with the Minister serving as the head offical. The department was divided into many sections and that had a head in charge. Albus Dumbldore and the many people around him at the table that night, simply served as the advisors to the Minister of Magic, who always had the final say in things. 

Clothing was much different too. All though common clothes like pants, skirts, shirts and sweaters existed, all wizards and witches wore the common robes, which came in every possible fashion that was available. Materials were made from different substances too. Dragon hide was often used for boots and such and it turned out that they didn't use pens or paper. Instead they wrote with quills and parchments or scrolls. It fascinated her very much. 

Of course the thing that had Hermione in questions was how do you become a witch? After Dumbledore had told her she was a witch, he invited her to live in the castle to teach her how to be one. She really had no choice but to accept because she had no other place to go. It turned out that there were many things involved in the education of sorcery besides saying a funny word and waving a stick, which she found out was a wand. There was history to be learned, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Astronomy, and Arithmancy. Hermione found all the subjects quite interesting and intrigued her more than the simple subjects back home.

She was taught under the eye of one of the advisory witches who was a retired professor. Professor McGonagall was a strict but crafty and clever witch that volunteered to teach Hermione everything that she would need to learn about magic. For about eight hours, five to six days a week, Hermione learned the different subjects of magic. The one problem was that she was exactly six years behind of every other wizard or witch of her age but Hermione was a quick learner and seemed to be catching up at an alarming rate. Professor McGonagall was extremely impressed with Hermione's improvement of each new lesson. With her own wand, made from ash containing a female unicorn hair, she was able to do all sorts of tricky charms and was doing a fine job at Transfiguration, McGonagall's specialty.

There was only one problem present, while Hermione was doing a fine job at learning how to become a witch, she was making the exact same mistake that she made in her home world. She simply failed to make an effort in making a friend. She was well aquatinted with some of the adults in the Hogwarts castle as to she lived with them and the only person she seemed to make friends with that was remotely around her age was a young Ministry apprentice named Penelope Clearwater, who was five years older than her. Penelope had been extremely nice to Hermione and had shown her around the castle and told her what was off limits and where she could go to. She also lived in the bedroom next to where Hermione's room was but they rarely took the time to speak to each other. For it was either Hermione was at a lesson or Penelope was dealing with the Ministry. 

Of course there was another thing that Hermione was doing wrong. She seemed to spend most of her free time in the castle's vast library either learning more charms or looking up a subject that interested her. She spent her time in there until it was time for her to go to her room or she brought her things to her room for her to study there. She never took the time to do anything else, except maybe eat and sleep. She had only ventured out into Hogsmeade once to get the things that she needed for her life in this world. Every other single day she spent reading or learning. She yet again created her own little closed world of following rules and learning.

Every once and a while she would see the sign of a teenager around her age. Sometimes at dinner, the advisory wizards were joined by Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Harry Potter, who was also known as the boy who lived. Hermione had read all about the exploits of You-Know-Who (she feared saying his name like the others) and had learned about how Harry had survived his death curse. Of course she really ignored his presence and kept on reading. Ever once and a while he would appear with his archer friend, Ron Weasley, which Hermione was still a little cross with for being so rude to her when she first appeared. They ignored a crossing with each other and seemed not to care whether they met or not. Harry and Ron were trouble makers and seemed to enjoy doing the things that guys generally liked to do. Those type of people did not interfere with Hermione's functions.

Hermione rubbed her eyes and stretched as she climbed out of her four-poster bed. She looked out her bedroom window and watched as the whole city did it's normal thing. People would be traveling around the streets, either on foot or on broom and hundreds of owls stormed the sky. She watched as families waved each other goodbye as they went off to do their errands. Hermione sighed when she saw the families, she often found herself wondering if her own family missed her, she knew that she missed them terribly. She shook the thought off as she changed for her day.

As she put on her black robes she looked at the sleeping lump of orange fur that she called a cat. Crookshanks had seemed to be adjusting more to the land quickly than Hermione had expected. He was as lazy as ever but he seemed to know where he was going around the castle. He often followed Hermione wherever she went and rarely left her side and if he did it was for no more than an hour.

"Funny cat," she mumbled as she wiped the hair out of her eyes. She tapped his head as she grabbed her bag. "Come Crookshanks, we had better get going or we'll be late for breakfast." Crookshanks gave a loud yawn and followed his scholarly master out into the castle.

***

As usual Hermione spent her day in a lesson with Professor McGonagall, in which she learned about Animagi. Hermione sat there amazed as she watched the professor turn into a tabby cat then back again. They continued on with the lesson and Hermione departed at the end to head to the library where she settled herself at the usual table in the back and proceeded with her learning.

Later on that evening she was walking to her room and was looking at the halls as she walked. Since it was an enchanted castle she got used to the habit of talking pictures and moving staircases. Hermione was walking past the stairs from the second corridor when Crookshanks ran off into another direction following a small popping sound.

"Crookshanks, get over here!" Hermione said as she followed her cat. Crookshanks disappeared around a corner.

"Ouch, get off of me you stupid cat!" Hermione turned the corner to see Crookshanks on top of an extremely tall person. She recognized him to be Ron Weasley accompanied by his friend Harry Potter.

"Get off him, Crookshanks," she said as she walked up to the two, who were standing at the foot of another staircase. Crookshanks jumped down from Ron's shoulders and sat next to Hermione, giving a small purr. She turned to Ron and Harry. "Sorry about that, he probably thought you were a rat or something."

Ron frowned at the cat while Harry had a bemused smile on his face. "No problem at all," Harry said to Hermione. "How are things here at the castle?"

"Just fine, I was on my way to the library. Where are you two headed?"

Harry and Ron exchanged looks. "Um-nowhere," Ron tried to say casually. Unfortunately for them Hermione noticed exactly where they were standing.

"You're going to the third corridor aren't you?' she asked them. Harry shrugged.

"What if we are?"

"That's a forbidden area, you'd be breaking the rules if you go up there."

Ron just looked at her funny. "Yeah and it's none of your business if we are. Go on to the library and study."

Hermione scowled. "There's a reason why that area is forbidden, you shouldn't be going up there!"

Harry and Ron exchanged looks again and started heading up the stairs, leaving Hermione behind at the foot of the stairs. "I'll tell Professor McGonagall if you don't come back!" she called after them

"See if we care," Ron called back down.

Hermione gave a frustrated growl and watched as they traveled up. She was about to turn back around when she noticed Crookshanks was gone. She spun around only to see his long orange tail travel upwards. "Crookshanks, get down here now!" But he didn't listen to her. Hermione gave a hard sigh through her nose and chased after her pet. 

As she ran up, the stairs suddenly shifted with her on. _This isn't good!_ she thought. Apparently Crookshanks, Harry, and Ron were also on the staircase as it moved.

"Why did we have to be on the staircase that moves at six o clock?" Harry asked Ron as they held on to the railing.

"I don't know? You're the one who decided to go this way."

"Exactly where are we going?" Hermione asked them as she held on.

"Where ever the stairs decide," Harry said to her. After a few more seconds the stairs stopped and the three of them found themselves at the base of the third corridor. They walked up and stood at the top of the stairs. All of a sudden they began to move again and returned to its normal position.

"Damn stairs," Ron muttered to himself as he turned to the hallway.

"Looks like we'll have to take the long way back," Harry said. Hermione just stood there waiting for the stairs to get back on their own. The two boys started walking into the halls leaving behind Hermione and Crookshanks.

"Wait up," Hermione called after them as she ran to catch up. She walked behind them as they explored the halls. It was dark, damp, and an eerie feeling was creeping its way up Hermione's spine. "We shouldn't be here," she said as they continued walking.

"Then why did you follow us? We never asked you to come," Ron asked.

Hermione just looked at him, although it was more his back because he was so tall. "I had no choice. Crookshanks chased after you two."

Ron and Harry just rolled their eyes and continued walking. "How much do you want to bet Filch doesn't even travel up here?" Harry asked Ron.

"Twelve Sickles, although it's kinda obvious that he doesn't," Ron answered. "It's so dusty that not even the most advance cleaning spell could come close to getting rid of it." He sneezed to prove his point. "Mom would have a fit."

"It seems to me that this place is in this state for a reason," Hermione said as she spotted a slash picture, she rubbed her arms together. The coldness of it all was getting to her.

"If your so worried then go back," Harry said as he kicked around a piece of wood. 

"I can't, I don't know the way back. Besides someone has to keep you out of trouble."

"Unfortunately for us."

As they continued walking, it got colder and colder. Hermione could see her breathe with each exhale. All of a sudden they heard a soft clanking sound that got louder as they walked closer.

Clank Clank Clank Clank

"Go away, go away!"

All three of them froze when they heard the voice. It was very hoarse and seemed to be coming in from the direction behind them. Harry and Ron drew out their wands and held them in their hands securely, Hermione had hers in her hand as she tried to remain calm.

"GO!" That voice got to their spines and drained any color that they had left in their faces. A white apparition fled towards them in some sort of odd shape. Ron looked at Harry. "Could it be a Boggart?" Hermione knew what a Boggart was but what did it take the shape of?

"Only one way to find out." Harry got in front of Hermione and Ron and pointed his wand. "_ Riddikulus_!" The apparition didn't phase. It was speeding towards them and seemed to be opening its mouth. 

Ron noticed that they were standing next to a door. He tried to open it but it was locked. "Damn, the doors locked tight!" It was getting even closer.

Hermione thought for a second and had an idea. "Move over!" She pushed Ron out of the way and tapped her wand on the doorknob. _"Alohamora!"_

The door swung open and all four of them ran inside and slammed the door shut. They leaned against the door to catch their breath. Giving a big yawn, Crookshanks seemed to be the only one calm.

"What was that thing?" Hermione panted out.

"No idea?" Ron said breathing in and out quickly. He and Harry looked at her.

"That was an interesting spell," Harry said.

"I found it in a beginner's book, looks like you two don't do too much extra reading."

Ron and Harry turned their heads and said nothing. That's when Harry noticed where they were. "I never knew this hall existed." They were in another hall with a dense fog in the air, it was colder than the last one. 

"We shouldn't be here," Hermione said in a warning voice.

"Why? Are you scared?" Ron asked teasingly.

"We have to go back."

"Be my guest and go back, I'm sure that white thing would love to see you again!"

"Will both of you shut up!" Harry snapped at the two of them. He was up and a few feet into the hall with Crookshanks behind him. All of a sudden they heard the clanging sound again.

Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang

"What is that noise?" Harry wondered out loud walking on. He turned to Hermione and Ron, who were still leaning against the door. "Come on you two." He walked off with Crookshanks following him.

"Could it be something metal?" Hermione asked.

Ron shook his head. "No, it's too hollow sounding. Something made from a less dense material."

As they walked down the hall the clanging noise got louder until they came to a spot where the noise was directly in front of them. "I guess it's coming from the inside," Harry said knocking on the wall. Just then a door appeared making them jump back in surprise. 

"You open it," Ron said to Harry, who just shrugged and opened the door. A cloud of smoke came out to greet them as they walked in. Once the smoke cleared all they saw was a clay pot sitting on top of a column. 

"All that's in here is a grubby pot," Ron said. "I don't see the reason for so much security."

"Will you use your eyes. It has a lid on it so it must be holding something," Hermione said. 

"Wonder what it has inside?" Harry asked. His question was answered in a matter of seconds.

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" It started to jump up and down making the clanging sounds. The voice sounded very angry and very high pitched.

"Obviously something alive," Ron said stepping back. "And angry for that fact." The pot jumped even faster making a constant noise.

"WILL YOU STOP DAWDLING AND LET ME OUT!? AS MUCH AS I LOVE SMALL PLACES, I THINK I HAVE BEEN IN HERE WAY TOO LONG! I KNOW SOMEONE IS OUT THERE, SO LET ME OUT!"

"I think we better leave," Hermione said pushing the two of them out. She closed the door behind her, making her realize something. "Crookshanks!" 

She quickly reopened the door to see her cat getting ready to jump onto the column. "Crookshanks. Don't!" But she was to late, Crookshanks leaped up and landed next to the pot, knocking it over. It fell with a loud hollow crash, breaking into a few dozen pieces. Hermione gasped as she saw a brown lump shake pieces off and stare at her with large black eyes. Then it just apparated.

They just stood there as Crookshanks walked back to where Hermione was standing. All of a sudden they heard two voices.

"Where did you say it came from?"

"I heard coming from over here, Professor McGonagall."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and gulped. "Filch!" they said together. Harry grabbed Hermione by the arm as she scooped up Crookshanks and they ran back to the other hall, forgetting about the brown lump and the white apparition. Once they reached the main hall, Harry and Ron took a rest and leaned against their legs. Hermione stood there holding Crookshanks and giving him a disapproving look.

"Now look what you did," she said to him. He just meowed.

"That cat of yours is nothing but trouble," Ron said to her. He was going to say more but he was cut off by a very strict voice.

"What are you three doing in this area?" It belonged to none other than Professor McGonagall accompanied by Filch. She had her hands on her hips and was giving them a very disapproving look. "Well?"

Ron and Harry stood their speechless but Hermione took quick action. "It was because of me, Professor. Crookshanks had ran up here chasing something and I went to follow him. Harry and Ron were just making sure that everything was okay. We finally found him and we were just on our way back," she said as honestly as she could. She had never lied to an adult before. Ron and Harry just nodded not wanting to ruin it incase the Professor bought it. Surprisingly, she did.

"I see. All of you head back downstairs and Ms. Granger, please keep control of your cat. There are things up here that are very dangerous."

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said as she watched Professor McGonagall and Filch walk away. They started to walk down the stairs.

"Thanks," Harry said. "We would have been in real big trouble if we were caught."

Hermione sighed. "Well it's my fault for letting Crookshanks break that pot. I hope that thing wasn't to dangerous, whatever it was."

"Uh-I guess we're about to find out," Ron said as he and the others stopped at the foot of the stairs. Standing almost five feet in front of them was a small brown fox with large black eyes, the exact same eyes that stared at Hermione. Crookshanks leaped from Hermione's arms and sniffed at it. The fox simply ignored it and gave a blow from its nose, it almost sounded like an impatient one. It sat down and looked at them curiously.

"What would a fox be doing in a clay pot in the middle of an old empty room?" Harry asked. The fox cocked its head, stood up, and started to trot off with Crookshanks following. 

"You're going to have to put a leash on that orange lump," Ron said to Hermione. "Have you ever thought off a binding spell or something?"

"I can't just do that to my own cat! Come on, we better follow him and see if we can catch that fox. Maybe we can put it back into the pot." She started to run in the same direction as the two furballs. After what seemed to be five minutes off running in empty halls the three teenagers found themselves in an empty room in the observation tower, away from all the office areas of the castle. They looked at Crookshanks who sat on the windowsill, cleaning himself.

"Where's the fox?" Harry asked. A small yelp came from behind him and they spun around only to see the door close with the fox standing behind them. Harry and Ron had their wands ready when the fox gave a small yawn and stretched. Then it began to transform into a girl or a small woman. They really couldn't tell.

"Boy does it feel good to get out of that cramped place," she said as she stretched some more. It was a short girl looking about fifteen or fourteen, wearing apple green robes. She had dark tan skin with a long ponytail of curly hair falling down her back. Her black eyes gave off a warm feeling as she smiled at the three. "You don't realize how much you miss everything until you have been in there for almost fifty years. Thank you, Crookshanks." Crookshanks gave a meow in reply which seemed like a "your welcome".

"Excuse me for being rude," Hermione said in a low voice. "But who exactly are you? And how do you know my cat's name?"

The girl gave a small yawn as she took out a small wand from her robe sleeves and waved it in the air. "First lets have a seat. I'm tired of standing now and no one will find us here." Four seats appeared in the air directly behind them and they sat down. "Good. Now let's answer your second question first, Hermione.

"I know much about all three of you. You," she said pointing to Hermione," are Hermione Granger, friends to all books and an extremely clever and smart girl. A little on the unsociable side but we'll fix that. Now you, giving me the strange looks are Ronald, or just plan Ron, Weasley, youngest brother of a family of seven children and an extremely good archer and chess player. Rarely misses or looses a game if I'm correct. And the young man with the glasses is none other than Harry Potter, also known as the Boy-Who-Lived, but I also know that you have endless courage and bravery. Very troublesome but you'll turn out to be a great wizard. All of you will." She smiled cleverly at them.

"But how?" Hermione asked. She had gotten everything right about them.

"Good observation skills and I can see it in you. My spirit floats around these parts and watches and sees all. I got bored after waiting about five years in that vase."

"What are you?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, no witch or wizard can survive fifty years inside a vase," Ron said. "You certainly don't look fifty or however old you are."

The girl dusted something off her robes. "I'm flattered that you think so. Well I guess I'll start by introducing myself. Should have done that from the start really. My name is Kitrina Cleva Sly and I am not just a witch. In fact I'm not really human at all," she said with a laugh. Hermione, Harry, and Ron looked at her with confusion.

"The truth is, I'm a made up creature almost like a chimera. Part witch, part magical creature and part spirit really. More like a physical ghost, I'm neither alive but I'm not exactly made of mist."

"A made up creature though?" Hermione asked.

"A very long story that I don't want to explain but I'll make it short. Well I was created long time ago, by another wizard. The most famous in history."

"Merlin?" 

"Preciously! My master was brilliant, he created me as an experiment but I turned out perfect according to him, but that's not the point. In his lifetime, my Master created powerful talismans that could grant immense power to the owner. Before his death, he gave the talismans to the different races of this world to watch and protect. One going to the giants, goblins, fairies, and many others. Six in all if I'm correct, it's been well over four hundred years. I didn't die along with him because of an enchantment he put on me. He knew that something would happen in the future and he wanted me here. Later it was revealed that it was my job to help those who are in pursuit of the items of Merlin." 

Kitrina sighed and had a sad look on her face. "How I miss my master." But then she turned serious. "In dreams I would see him and he would tell me what my duty was. Unfortunately, about fifty or so years ago someone caught me and stuffed me in that enchanted vase and I would be locked in that room in the hidden hall until someone broke the vase. Only my spirit, which was invisible, could roam around the castle and I couldn't talk to anyone unless I'm physically here. So you could see that I had to wait very patiently. Until now I just watched as everything around me changed. I learned about people and who they were and watched children grow into adults. I also watched as Voldemort's terror spread. Awful, awful wizard that one is." She shook her head.

"Please don't say that name," Ron asked as he winced.

"Sorry," Kitrina said. "Apparently since you three are the ones who kinda let me free it's your job to make sure that Vol-oops, sorry Ron- You-Know-Who doesn't get them. He knows they exist and he's after them, it was one of his minions that put me in that vase!"

"Us?" Hermione asked. As interesting as the story may had seemed to her, she wasn't very sure how three teenagers could save a world from being reigned in terror.

"Why can't you do it?" Ron asked.

Kitrina frowned. "I would if I could but you see, only a wizard can save the wizarding world. I am not fully man therefore I can't. Fate won't let me. Please say that you'll do it. Adults wouldn't believe a thing I say. Besides, I can't just trust anyone and I feel that I can trust you."

Hermione thought for a minute and bit her lip. Could she help? She looked at Harry and Ron. They seemed to be thinking hard but it was Harry who stood up. He had an extremely serious look on his face. 

"I'll help, I don't care what it takes but I'll help." Kitrina smiled and jumped up to hug him. 

"Thank you so much! Master's items can't be used for evil, no matter what! I knew I could count on you, Harry. I knew it the very moment I saw you," she said enthusiastically. She looked at Ron and Hermione with hopeful eyes.

Ron nodded slowly after a second. "I'll help too." Kitrina went from Harry and hugged Ron. 

"Thank you! Thank you! Ron, you will be an important asset to this team!" she said in a motivated voice. Then she looked at Hermione. "What about you? You are more important than you think, Hermione. You just have to help."

Important? Hermione thought. Since when was she ever needed in anything? Only in a school assignment was she ever needed for importance. Always last to be picked in sports or in a game. Never invited to a party or a dance, yet she was being asked to help save a world from a dangerous and powerful terror. 

Hermione just looked down at her feet and noticed Crookshanks sitting in front of her. He purred against her leg and meowed. She smiled. Yes, she would help. The people had been so nice to her and she would do anything to protect the world that had should her a new life. "Of course." Kitrina jumped on to her with a big hug and held it the longest. 

"You don't realize how grateful I am. If he were still alive, Master would give you even bigger hugs."

"Merlin, the mst famous wizard in history, give us hugs like that?" Ron asked. "That's something I would like to see."

Harry and Hermione gave a laugh while Kitrina looking slightly offensive. "Master may have been very powerful but he was as gentle as a newborn unicorn!"

Ron held his hands up in defense. "I believe you. No need to get angry."

Kitrina relaxed and went back to smiling. She looked out the window and smiled. "The night is coming and I'm glad to be free. I'm going to roam for a while, and I will catch up with you three later."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked her.

Kitrina giggled and stretched. "When a free happy spirit like mine has been confined for so long, you want to see everything. I will see you three when I find what I need to find. Good-bye for now and thank you." She began to turn into a brown fox again and trotted off to the door, which opened for her and she left.

Hermione stood there with Ron and Harry. "I hope we'll be able to do this," she said out loud.

Harry smiled. "We will."

Ron gave a yawn and looked at Harry. "I just realized that you owe me twelve Sickles for our bet. Filch was in the third corridor!"

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Hi peps,

Last time I checked I was up to thirty-three reviews. I never expected that I would receive so much. I'm so happy! This is like way cool!

This time I would like to thank these people for reviewing chapter two:

Gillian, Bluetreeleaves, Adnop Nottap, samantha, Haley J the Bat, shadowcat, zari, unpredictable, evyfleur, pokey, Mizzy-Izumi, Pansy Potter, Artemis-chan, and Red1. Thanks you soooooo much!

Lots more to come after this chapter and I'm thinking about writing a one chapter fic that has to do with my other fic: Triple the Trouble, Triple the Fun!

I have a lot on my mind and school is killing me and so is orchestra. Chapters will be spread probably one every two weeks but I'll seriously try to keep it at least one a week. Your reviews give me the inspiration to write!

Also, the one line that Kitrina says "only a wizard can save the wizarding world" well I kinda got that from the anime movie X, where Hinitoe says "Only a man can save man kind". For all you anime fans that movie totally rocks if you like blood, gore, and killing, but other than that the movie is pretty cool.

Okay now for my shameless promoting ^_^:

For some of you that haven't read it I definitely suggest you read Runaway Fox by Kirikarin. It's such a good story and its worth reading. It's finished so you won't be left in the dark and she also has another fic that's entitled the Angel of Apocalypse, which is turning out to be a real interesting story.

Another cute story is The Story of Lily by Bella. A little mix of princess stories like Cinderella and Ella Enchanted and it's so cute, especially if you like romance.

Let's see what else is there? Oh yeah Silver Phoenix's stories are really cool and I can't think of the names right now but it's a must read.

Also, I find Adnap Nottap's stories really, really cute. If you haven't read Truth or Dare you really should. 

I guess that's all for the promoting. See ya!

Adios and Chow,

Gemin16 


	4. Chapter 4: The Mercenary and the Item

Storybook Crisis

by: Gemin16

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 4: The Mercenary and the Item 

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"You know, I still can't believe that we're the ones who have to stop You-Know-Who from finding those items of Merlin," Ron said as he, Hermione, and Harry walked the streets of Hogsmeade. "The three of us against him."

"I wonder if that Kitrina person was lying to us," Harry voiced out. "It's been well over a week and a half since we've seen her."

"She did say she had something to do, maybe she's locating the items for us," Hermione said. Harry was right in saying that Kitrina had been gone for over a week. Hermione was even starting to have doubts about it, but she wouldn't say so. "Besides, she may be in trouble." Since their meeting with the hyper Kitrina, Hermione became fast friends with Ron and Harry, and was seeing more of the city in one week than in the three months she had been there.

"Hermione, I can guarantee a person like that spells trouble," Ron said.

"Look who's talking," Hermione said dryly. "If she's trouble than what are you and Harry?"

Harry laughed. "She got us there."

Ron muttered something as a small grey bundle flew into his head. "Ow." It bounced right off and flew around his head like a bumblebee. He grabbed a hold of it and held it still. It was a small minute owl carrying a small piece of parchment. "Pig, you stupid owl." He read the note, gave a loud sigh and turned to Hermione and Harry. "Mom wants me to pick up some things for her. If you want, you can go, this will take awhile."

Hermione shook her head. "I really haven't got anything to do so I wouldn't mind coming along. I'll help you if you like." She had finished all her homework for Professor McGonagall and had decided to do some extra studying tonight as soon as she was back in her room.

Harry shrugged. "Might as well help." All three of them started to walk off towards the market place called Diagon Alley.

Off in the shadows, a form of a young man stood watching the trio walk off. His dark eyes followed every movement they made and made note of every detail that he found. It was his job, given to him by his provider of money. He loved money and it moved him to do his small toils. Whether it was spying or stealing or any other business, he would most likely do it. Of course, as long as he was paid. Once he saw Hermione and the others disappear into the large crowds, he too, disappeared.

He apparated into the dark, damp, and deserted area of Knockturn Alley where he would take care of his limited business. He noticed a small table sitting in front of an old shop with a man and woman sitting there. The man motioned for him to come and sit. The young man sat down and crossed his arms along his chest. He stared at the older man and gave him an impatient look. The woman just sat there.

"Well?" the older man said after a second.

The young man stuck out his hand and raised his eyebrow. "Well nothing, you know the contract."

The older man sighed and reached into his robes and pulled out a small bag and handed to the young man. "When will you learn to be more respectful to your employers, Kalvin?"

Kalvin took the bag and stuck it within his robes. "I can take my business elsewhere, Nott," Kalvin said calmly.

"I can find other providers."

"Are they as reliable and efficient." It was clearly a statement.

Nott rubbed his palms together. Kalvin had won that argument hands down. "You clearly have a better control than your father did."

Kalvin closed his eyes at the mention of his father. He was young for a mercenary, eighteen precisely, and he knew his way well around the trade. It was his father's love of money and essential greed and carelessness that got him killed. Kalvin's love for money led him to do what he did, but he also found some fun in the tasks. Of course even he knew when a job was to heavy to handle, the one thing his father never knew. Another thing his father failed to have was a faithful servent at his side at all cost. "I realize that."

"And what of the information?" Nott said in a hurry.

"The item in question seems to be in too tight of a spot to handle for the price that we discussed."

Nott slamed his fist on the table. "Ludicrous! I will not even pay a Knut more, even if it is you doing the job!"

Kalvin just shrugged. "I hear Voldemort is getting less patient with every passing moon phase."

Nott turned a deadly white with the mentioning of his master. "What is the problem then?"

"Goblins are very protective of their volts, it will take great skill and patience to retrieve your item. Especially if it belongs to them. If I am to retrieve it as quickly as I can, I need a greater price."

"I will pay you when I see it."

"An upfront payment is needed now, half now, half later." Knott took out his money purse and put a handful of Galleons on the table. Kalvin counted them, fifteen in total. "Ten more and that's all I need for now."

"I better receive my item within a weeks time!" Nott said as he handed Kalvin ten more Galleons.

"You will receive what you want when I give it to you, old man. So I suggest you be patient, it will get to you with in a decent time. I remind you that I can do this more efficiently than any other provider."

"If you keep this up, Master will be sure to honor you with a gracious prize and a piece of his land for you to control. He knows about you and your work."

"I will only do what I please. Voldemort means nothing to me," Kalvin said. He stood up and looked at Nott. "I will owl you when I am ready but I do have a word of advice towards you."

Nott watched the young man. "And what would that be?"

Kalvin reached out his hand and Nott threw two Galleons and five Sickles to him. "The girl that stays within Hogwarts is one to keep an eye on. If you wish to know."

Nott laughed. "She's not even from this world, how can one like her prove so needful."

Kalvin rolled his eyes. "If you observe, you will learn. Besides, she is allies with Potter so she will prove useful. See if I lie, use another one of your resources to check on them. Come, Lady," he said to the woman who sat besides Nott. She rose immediately and follwed Kalvin out of Knockturn Alley. She was very pretty and clearly older than Kalvin by more than fifteen years. Her long brown hair was in a braid that fell about her dull robes and she carried herself with her face fallen. If one was to look strait at her, they would only see a far and distant look in her hazel eyes.

Lady, as she was called, had been in Kalvin's family for more than seventeen years and had served as a family servent before her services for Kalvin. She had another name but it wasn't used for certain reasons. In fact, she had no sign of a true personality, not that it mattered. In Hogsmeade and the rest of the world, she was dead and gone so it wasn't like she was needed elsewhere but she had been kidnapped and her death faked. So during her years of serving, she was held under the Imperius curse and did everything that her masters told her to do. He used her to great extent unlike his father, who just kept her around their house in the country side using her like a house elf but Kalvin used her for more useful purposes.

When Kalvin did his mercenary work, he realized that he needed a partner, so he used her. In her years of freedom, Lady had been a great witch and still proved to have her skills under the curse. He used her to gain information while he was off on another task and had her do work that he could not perform. In instances where Kalvin found himself in an unable position, he used her to kill or steal. It didn't bother him, it wasn't like Lady had a consious or anything, so naturally it didn't bother her. It was how Kalvin wanted it. But the one thing that puzzled him was how her cheerfulness of her once free life showed through the Imperius curse. There were many times where she would look at him with a smile or a kind glance and often had some emotion in her voice. It was very little but he could tell it was there. He didn't quite understand how she was able to do that.

"Lady, how was Nott acting before I came?" Kalvin asked her.

"He was quiet, his hands were shaken and he was rubbing his arm furiously," Lady replied with little emotion in her voice, but still her voice had some warmth to it that signified that she was once a very kind woman. As always, she told directly what she saw.

"Hmm, looks as if Voldemort is in a hurry to gather these items," Kalvin said as they continued walking. Unlike most people in the world, he wasn't afraid of saying the Dark Lord's name. It didn't concern him who ruled the world or whatever. All he wanted to do was live his life the way he wanted. Not giving much of a glance at other people's lives. He ran a hand through his dark brown curls and chewed on his lips. "I will need to find a direct route into the eternal structure of Gringotts and then see what comes next. A weeks time at most is all I need. That old cocker will get what he wants." He gave a small laugh to himself as he entered another small alley with Lady and they both apparated.

***

"What's next on your list, Ron?" Hermione asked as she walked with Ron and Harry out of a store.

"Uh....lacewings, rocknot root, mostly stuff we'll find at the Apothecary, which means we'll have to see Snape," Ron said with disgust.

"Hopefully we won't see him," Harry said.

"Who's Snape?" Hermione asked them.

"He's out Potion's teacher at school," Harry explained to her. "Nasty person he is. Always plays favorites and hates the hell out of us and our friends. His family owns the local Apothecary, unfortunitly it has the best in quality ingredients and usually has everything you need."

"We think he's apart of You-Know-Who's lot," Ron said in a hush toned because of the crowds. "Sure acts like it. I wouldn't be surprised if he was." They entered the large store, which wasn't in full business. To Harry and Ron's disgust, Snape sat behind the counter working on a potion. Hermione had seen him in the castle every so often talking with Dumbledore. She had always thought that he was a member of the Ministry. He paid no mind to the three of them and kept on with his mixture

"Let's hurry and grab everything so we can get out of here," Ron whispered to Hermione and Harry. They spilt up the items on the list and went around gathering what Mrs. Weasley wanted Ron to get. Hermione was gathering a pound of lacewings, when she heard something ringing from the corner of the store and she saw a small thin pink worm disappear. She hurried with getting the ingrediants and handed them to Ron, so that he could pay for them. She contiued to look around the store for it but she didn't see anything.

"Potter, Weasely, interesting to see you here," Snape said as he rung up the purchases. "It's surprising to see that you two do more than make prats of yourselves." Harry and Ron scowled at him as he continued. "Of course for all I know, you two and your accomplice could be getting ingredients to brew up trouble. Lacewings, Rocknot Root, Essence of Dragon Scales, better not be doing anything illegal, be a shame if someone were to turn you in. That'll be two Galleons, seventeen Sickles, and Twenty Knuts."

Ron payed him, almost throwing the money in his face but miraculously held back. He took the bag full of ingredients and stomped out the door with Harry and Hermione, who was still looking for the thing she saw. 

"I positively hate him," Harry said. "The nerve, saying he'll turn us in for something illegal. If I ever get the chance I'll give him a piece of my mind."

"Why does he hate you so much?" Hermione asked, forgetting about what she was looking for.

"Goes way back when him and my dad were in school," Harry explained. "Snape always hated my dad and he takes it out on me and Ron. He threatens us periodically like you heard in there. It's normal." 

"One of these days we'll trap him and prove he's a Death Eater," Ron said as he walked with his hand in a tight fist. They had reached the neighborhood where Ron and his family lived. Hermione had been there once before for a short time but had met everyone in his family. She had met big families before, but she had ever encountered a family quite as big as Ron's. 

Ron lived in a three story house located in the suburbs of Hogsmeade, near the Forbidden Forest. The head of the household, Arthur Weasley, worked for the Ministry of Magic as head of the Misuse of Magic (A/N: Remember no Muggles so I kinda had to make something up). Hermione had seen him around the castle every once in a while and didn't realize who he was until Ron and Harry pointed him out to her. Mr. Weasley's wife, Molly Weasley, was a housewife and had been very kind to Hermione when she first met her, telling her that if she ever needed a motherly opinion or an ear to listen that she would be there. Ron's eldest brother Bill, worked for Gringotts as a charm breaker. The second older brother, Charlie, lived out in the country side studying dragons; the third oldest, Percy, also worked for the Ministry of Magic in the International Department. After those three came the twins, Fred and George, who had just graduated and were starting a joke shop business called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Ron's youngest sibling was his sister Ginny, who Hermione became friends with. Four out of the seven Weasley children still lived in the household.

They came to the green house and Ron opened the door with everyone following him inside. "I'm home," he called out.

"I'm in the kitchen," called a voice from the back of the first floor. "Bring everything you brought with you. Ceceila needs that potion by tomorrow." They all went to the kitchen where they saw Mrs. Weasley working over a cauldron of purple potion. The plump woman turned around and greeted them all with a smile. "Hello, Harry. Hello, Hermione."

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said. Ron gave her the bag full of things and watched as she added half of them to the potion. "What are you making?"

Mrs. Weasley dusted her hands on her apron and attended to another pot that was possibly going to be the family's dinner. "Oh a friend of mine is having some back trouble and she's terrible at making potions so I told her I make one for her."

"Can Harry and Hermione stay for dinner?" Ron asked.

"I don't see why not. Fred and George are going to stay late at the shop so I need you to bring them dinner as soon as your finished eating. I would have asked Ginny, but she's busy with another errand."

After dinner, all three of them headed for Fred and George's shop and delivered the dinner. As they walked back to the castle, Hermione thought about the worm she saw. She turned to Ron and Harry. "Worms don't appear in stores alive do they?" she asked them.

"Not unless it's at the plant shop," Harry said. "Why?"

Hermione shook her head. "Never mind then."

Ron looked ahead of them. "Did you ever have that feeling that someone was following you?"

Hermione and Harry just looked at him. "Why do you say that?" Harry asked him.

"I just have that feel-" all of a sudden a big brown lump came flying at him and landed on his shoulders, giving him a scare. It gave a small yelp that sounded like a laugh.

"Looks like you were right," Harry said laughing. The fox on Ron's shoulder look at them with amusing black eyes. 

Ron just gave it a frown and shrugged it off. "It's about time you showed up, Kitrina," he said her. The fox grew and turned into human Kitrina. "What took you so long?"

"I wanted to surprise you, that's all," she said giggling. 

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked.

"All over, looking for any signs of the items. I sensed that the creatures have them all over this place but in our fortune most are located within the districts of this city."

"Exactly what are we looking for?" Harry asked her. Kitrina looked at them with wide eyes and gave a small laugh that died rather quickly.

"To be totally honest with you, I don't know because I forgot."

"What?!" Ron exclaimed.

"You mean to tell us we're being lead on a wild goose chase?" Harry asked her in disbelief.

Kitrina backed off away from them. "Honestly, I don't remember what the items are. I just know that Master created them and gave them to the creatures to protect. I know who has an item but I can't remember who has what. You see when master passed away, I kinda went into a deep sleep and didn't wake up till about three hundred years later not remembering exactly what they were." She looked down at the floor.

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Hermione asked her, slightly crossed with her.

"Well I kinda didn't think it was important until now."

"I think she was a freak accident in Merlin's experiment," Ron muttered.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed at him.

Kitrina gave hmph and glared at them with her black eyes. "Don't you get it? It's all apart of fate! It's my job to lead you to them and it's your job to find them. Trust me, if Voldemort gets his grubby hands on those items, your as good as dead and it wouldn't matter if you've already survived his terror once!" she yelled at them. Her face was flushed full of anger and her fox ears and tail were starting to stick out of her body.

Hermione bit her lip, sorry to have mad her angry. "I guess it's very frustrating for you as it is for us, not knowing what the items are. We're sorry for getting mad at you." She looked at Ron and Harry, who said sorry.

Kitrina still didn't look to happy and crossed her arms across her chest, her tail disapeered but her fox ears remained. "I accept your apology, I guess." The ears completly disapeered.

Harry sighed. "So exactly who has these items?"

"All six items are located within a different race or allience. The goblins, the fairies and pixies, the giants, the unicorns and centaurs, the mermaids and dwarves, and the humans all have an item that was given to them by Master. Each race protects that item with their lives and won't give it up very easily. You have to complete a task that they feel proves how worthy you are to have it."

"Just lovely," Harry said dryly. "It'll be hard to get anything from any of them."

"I didn't even know we possed an item of Merlin's," Ron said.

"Well if Merlin wanted to keep it a secret, he would have chosen to give it to someone who would have kept it a secret," Hermione said logically.

"She's right," Kitrina said.

"Do you know if Voldemort has any of them?" Ron asked her.

Kitrina smiled. "No, but unless we hurry he'll have all of them in no time."

Harry looked at the sky. "Well we have to figure out where they are and how to get them, but first we should head home," he suggested. It was getting darker as night time approached.

"I prefere to think about this tomorrow," Ron said.

"Fine, then we'll agree to meet tomorrow after classes?" Hermione asked. They nodded and each headed off in their own direction with Kitina following Hermione. The young apprentice of Merlin decided to become a fox once more and trotted along side Hermione.

"I guess you prefere your animal form better then anything?" Hermione said to her. Kitrina nodded and kept on walking.

***

Kalvin sat at an outside table with Lady looking at plans for the bank of Gringotts. He was planing a quick and sneaky way to get inside the tight secured areas of the bank and was deep in thought. In his three years of being a mercenary, he had never recieved a job quite as difficult as this one but he liked challenges. He had maps of all sorts of buildings located in just Hogsmeade alone, that he had either inherited or had made himself. His old man had done something good before he died. Lady just sat there, reading a book like she was ordered to.

A waitress walked by and asked him if he and his friend would have liked anything to drink. Kalvin ordered a cool cherry fizz for himself and a water for Lady. He didn't worry about the waitress seeing the plans because he put an enchantment on them. He calculated the best time for his break-in and the best entry and escape route. He smiled to himself. He would pull this off perfectly. 

***

The next day after lessons, Hermione spent her afternoon in the library doing reasearch to see if she could find any information on the items of Merlin. Kitrina was also in there with her as well as Crookshanks. Hermione was looking through an extremly large book on the history of Hogsmeade and was having no luck whatsoever.

"This isn't going as well as I thought," she said to Kitrina.

Kitrina was reading through an old text that dated back to the time of Merlin. "Hmph, Master never did such things!" she said with a frown on her face. She looked at Hermione. "What did you say?"

"I said this isn't going to be easy."

"Well, Master didn't tell too many people about his items. He wanted to keep them a secret as best as possible. Mention of them would be hard to find within many of these books."

Hermione gave a sigh and closed the book. "It was worth a try." She looked up from her book and saw Harry and Ron making their way inside to the back table where Hermione and Kitrina were sitting. Hermione had sent them an owl to meet her and Kitrina there.

"Any luck?" Harry asked her.

"None, I'm thinking it'll take us a lot longer than we originally thought. There is no mention of anything being held dear to any of the creatures or of any item that Merlin gave to humans. Kitrina and I have been searching for almost three hours and not even a clue." Hermione sighed and looked out the massive window. She saw the large building of Gringotts bank and then it hit her.

"Harry, Ron, Gringotts is run strictly by Goblins right?"

"Yeah," Ron said looking at an old book. "Good thing, too. It's probably the safest place in the city besides Hogwarts Castle. That is if you want to hide something." He wasn't paying attention to a thing he said.

"That's it!" Hermione said, then covering her mouth when she realized how loud she really was. It was very rare that she would disturb the people in the library. 

"What's it?" Kitrina asked with wide eyes, getting excited.

Hermione looked back at Gringotts then to the others. "Where else would goblins hide their item then in Gringotts!" she told them.

"That makes perfect sense," Harry said smiling, then he frowned. "But exactly how are we going to get it?"

Hermione frowned also. "I didn't really think about that. If there was only some way that we could check the volts."

"You really don't have to," Kitrina said smiling broadly. "All you really have to do is talk to them. Goblins are very stubborn creatures but they should understand the urgency of the situation. You should be polite and speak with the head in charge, he'll let you know about the challenge and test one of you."

"Bill works there," Ron said. "He's only a charm breaker but he knows the place and the goblins pretty well. He might be able to get us a meeting with the head one there."

"Good, we can go ask him as soon as possible," Hermione said. "Dinner isn't for another three hours so we can leave right now."

"Let's go," Harry said.

Kalvin was sitting at the roof of a building with Lady standing quietly next to him. His plan was perfect for him. He would break in when the bank was at its busiest hour and would go in undisturned with Lady creating a small diversion for him. Unknown to anyone but Lady, Kalvin was an accomplished Animagi. He could change into a chameleon and travel as he wished. That was how he received most of his information and stole many of his things. It was something that his father could never accomplish. It was one of the keys to his success.

He smiled to himself. "Lady, lets get inside and procede with the plan that I came up with."

Lady bowed over. "Yes, Young Master." Kalvin made sure that his robe pockets contained everything that he needed and he transformed into a chameleon and went into robe folds of Lady's robes. Lady made sure he was comfortable and apparated to the building. Once she was inside Gringotts, she proceeded with her task. After waiting almost half an hour in line, she finally approached the counter where a goblin proceeded to help her. Fifteen minutes earlier, Kalvin quietly left crawling under the many robes of the customers and into a seculded room unseen.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing in the middle of the crowded Gringotts, waiting to catch a glimsp of Ron's eldest brother, Bill, who had gone to arrange a short meeting with the head goblin. Kitrina had surprised them by shrinking to the size of a fairy and hid inside of Hermione's robes saying that she would step in if the goblins wouldn't comply.

"Hopefully nothing will turn out wrong," Hermione said, rubbing her hands together. Just then Bill showed up and greeted them. He was tall and looked extremly cool looking with his long hair and earrings. Hermione had never seen anyone dressed so casualy for such a serious job, she had expected him to be dressed slightly more professional but she took an immediate liking to him when he had introduced himself to her.

"I've asked him and he said he didn't mind, follow me." Hermione followed along with Ron and Harry and had followed Bill into a slightly large room where a large desk sat with a small head of a goblin located behind it. Bill winked at the three and left them.

"May I help you three?" the goblin, Headfang, asked them.

"We're here to see about an item," Harry said nervously.

The goblin was reading some records and gave them a short glance. "We have hundreds of items located here. You have to be slightly more specific."

Hermione gulped, the goblin was a bit intimidating with his strict looking face and all. She had honestly never seen one this up close before. Harry spoke up again. "Er-the item that Merlin gave you."

The goblin looked up from his book and glared at the three of them. "Children? Are you telling me you are the ones that bring claim to the prophesy of Merlin?" They nodded but Headfang seemed to still be skeptical. "I need suficant proof," he said. Hermione had read that the goblins were extremly tight in security and hard to gain trust from. 

That's when Hermione felt a small sudden movement from her collar, Kitrina had transformed herself into a tiny fox and jumped off of Hermione's shoulder and landed in front of Headfang waging her tale. He blinked at the miniture fox and looked at Hermione, who was a bit pale because Kitrina had now transformed from her human form only exactly seven inches tall. She stood there with her hands on her hips with a very frustrated look on her face. "I'm their proof," she said to Headfang matter-of-factly.

"And who are you?" Headfang asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm the who chose them for this mission. I'm the symbol that Merlin was talking about in that prophesy; that should be enough proof for you!" She was starting to flush with anger and her fox ears and tail were starting to stick out of her head again. Strangely it seemed to satisfy Headfang and he looked back at Hermione and the others. 

"I see, if you can pass our test then you may receive Merlin's item. Who is the one to take that challenge?"

Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, who looked back at her. Harry gave them a nod and turned to Headfang. "I'll do it." Headfang nodded and stood up and tapped the wall behind him revealing a hidden door and walked forward into the dark corridor. "Follow me, all three of you." They stood up and followed him inside but they turned around realizing that Kitrina wasn't following them.

"Arn't you coming?" Ron asked her. 

Kitrina smiled as her ears shrank back into her head. "I can't, I'm bounded by the prophesy to stay beyond these boundaries but I wish you great luck!" She waved to them as Headfang closed the door.

Little did any of them know that a chameleon was already inside exploring and that a long pink tail was swiveling around the office of Headfang, listening in on everything.

Inside the corridor, stalagmites and stalagtights hung and a constant dripping could be heard as they walked through. Headfang carried a small lantern as he lead the group. "The task is difficult, we were expecting a human adult to come."

"Well they got us instead," Ron mumbled next to Hermione, who gave him a glare. They reached a large volt with no keyhole and Headfang told them to stand back. The door seemed to be covered in little purple wax veins that traveled up from the bottom and the door itself looked to be very creepy. Hermione gave a shudder as she stared at it. Headfang gave it a rubbed with his finger and watched as it melted away revealing another door at the end of an empty waiting room. Headfang led them in and the door behind them amended itself instantly.

The goblin stood at the back door and held up one finger in front of ron and Hermione. "The challenge that Mr. Potter has volunteered for is beyond these doors but only him and I can enter, you two must wait here until we return." He spun around and tapped the door so that it instantly melted like the last. He then beckoned Harry to walk forward and the door settled itself back to its origional state. Hermione and Ron quickly said good luck and stood there as the door layed in front of them kept them away from their friend.

Ron leaned against the wall. "Great now we play the waiting game," he mumbled.

Kalvin klung from the wall of the goblin's secret volt. He had gotten passed their traps and retrieved the item without a scratch. Unfortunately, a small mouse that he had transfigured from a rock was a victim of a secret trap hidden inside. Kalvin found himself wondering what was inside the wrapped packaged that he found in the volt all alone. Why was it so important to the goblins that they would keep it this deep inside the ground? But one rule of his was to wonder after the danger was over. He had retrieved the item now all he had to do was get out. 

His two eyes searched all angles as he scattered across the ceiling to the other side where a small mouse hole had been his entrance and now his exit. A careless mistake that the goblins had overlooked but they probably checked the volt every five to ten years. By the make of it, Kalvin could tell that it was very old and that it was rarely messed with for security purposes.

He was beyond the last wall when his eyes caught movement around the front area. It was a goblin and a human. Upon closer observation he learned that it was Harry Potter with the head goblin. The were now entering the first of the four rooms that led to the back room. Kalvin's chameleon face gave a small smile as he ran forward into the mouse hole and came out the other side. He quickly looked around for signs of anyone else but found none and quietly transformed back into his true form. Only a door and one more room stood between him and another successful job but he wanted to make sure he had a clear shot. All of a sudden he heard a muffed voice behind the door in front of him.

"I hope Harry will be all right," a girl's voice said.

"Harry will be fine," a boy's voice said reassuringly, "he knows how to take care of himself. Look at what's he's survivd against."

Kalvin silently cursed to himself. It would be impossible for him to get out unnoticed for the mouse-hole was located right next to the door and both kids sounded like they were standing right next to it. Even with his skills off deception iot would be extremly hard for him to pull this off. he reached within his pocketed robes and found one of his homemade bombs. Made to let off a certain amount of gas materials, it was enchanted so that it would go off exactly ten seconds after tapped with a wand. He took out to off them and held them in his hands. He layed down at a perpendicular angle to the mouse hole and placed his thirteen inch ash wand containing one dragon heartstring, in pool fashion and got ready to shoot.

Ron was still sitting near the door while Hermione stood there chewing on a fingernail. It was one of her worst habits. "It's been almost twenty minutes, Ron. Could Harry have passed?"

Ron rolled his eyes and leaned his head back. "Hermione, relax-" he was about to say more but Hermione gasped as she saw two round items come rolling from underneath a small hole in the wall. 

There was an eerie silence as they stared at the two objects. All of a sudden a hiss came from one and then the other as a grey-green gas came pouring out quickly filling the room. It was heavy and Hermione felt her chest fill up with dust and gas as she started to cough violently. She sank to the floor and coughed even harder and covered her mouth and nose with her hands. She dared not uncover them to reach within her robes to search for her wand. She kept her eyes clench tight hoping that it would all stop in a matter of seconds. She felt like she was going to suffocate.

She suddenly felt two large hands grab her by her arms and pull her close until she felt her nose gently hit some soft material. Two arms wrapped themselves around her and held her close. It had to be Ron! Hermione opened her eyes just a bit and saw his black school robes. Hermione continued to cough but not as hard.

He was coughing violently but bent his head down. "Try not to breath it in," he said, coughing, to her.

Hermione felt her face flush as she continued to cough, she couldn't believe that he was shielding her from the gas. She was clingling onto his robes, slightly scared and hoping that the smoke would go away quickly.

"_ Evaporrous!_" a voice yelled from behind them. The smoke cleared and Hermione lifted her face up from Ron's chest and looked straight into his face. Ron had his head bent and was still coughing violently, his face was covered in grey dust and it shook off his hair every time he coughed. His hands leaned in on Hermione's shoulders as he kept coughing.

"All you both okay?" Harry asked frantically leaning next to them.

"I'm all right," Hermione said as she looked at Ron, who was still coughing. He nodded his head and let go off Hermione. After a finally cough he looked at Harry.

"Did you get it?"

Harry shook his head as he looked down at the floor. His hands were in tight fist. "No."

"Someone has snuck in and stolen Merlin's item," Headfang said, sounding slightly angry. "If you were just attacked then that means they stole it within the hour."

"We saw two round items come rolling in from a small hole by the door," Hermione said to him, standing up. Headfang looked at the hole by the door and muttered something in the goblin language. By his tone, Hermione guessed that he was cursing silently to himself.

"You must hurry and find the other items," he said to the three of them. "The talismans of Merlin are very powerful and if they end up on the side of Him then your world as we know it is doomed. I'm afraid this is as best as I can help you." He shook his head and lead them through the last door and back to his office.

Kalvin's small grey body ran against the tile floor as he searched for Lady near the entrance to the Headfang's office. He spotted her peach robes and slowly crept up to her and tugged lightly on her robes. She looked down upon him and smiled at him with her distant eyes. Her hand went down to the floor like she was picking up a dropped Knut and scooped him within her robes and calmly left Gringotts.

"What?!" 

Kitrina was still standing ontop of Headfang's desk, still seven inches tall only extremly angry. Her fox ears and tale had popped out and were strait up in the air. Harry, Hermione, and Ron stood there as she clenched her hands in a fist and spoke angrily to herself. "Voldemort beat us to the first item well then we'll just have to make sure that he doesn't get the next one." She turned to Headfang. "I hope you weren't planing to make this a headline or we're in even more trouble."

Headfang looked at her with a strait face. "Fox-pixie or whatever you are, I assure you that the public should keep their noses in their own business. Besides this has to do only with goblins and the likes of you four. If you excuse me I have some important business to conduct." He nodded at them and left the room.

Kitrina sighed and looked at the others muttering something about Fox-pixie. "You better get yourselves cleaned up," she said to Hermione and Ron. Hermione brought out her wand and flicked it mumbling, "_ Perfecto_." Their robes were wiped clean of any dust, as well as their hair and faces. Hermione gathered Kitrina in her hands and placed her yet again within her robes and all three of them left the office with grim looks on their faces.

"Keep your chins up," Kitrina said to them reassuringly as they left the bank. "You still have five more items to gain and I just know we can do it."

Hermione sighed and looked over in towards the direction of the exit, she sure didn't feel like they had a chance after what happened. Once they were outside, they stood near an empty ally and just stood there.

"What happened in there Harry?" Ron asked him.

"We reached the second to the last room and I was about to do the challenge when Headfang noticed prints within the dust. I didn't notice but he quickly went ahead to check the next room. He let out an extremly loud roar and came storming back out dragging me along with him. When we reached the third room, we heard you coughing and smoke was coming in through some sort of crack. What happened in there?"

"Some sort of smoke bomb," Hermione said. "Came in through a small mouse hole and set itself off. If it wasn't for you we would have suffocated." She looked at Ron . "Oh and Ron."

"Hmm?" 

"Thank you."

Ron's ears went slightly pink and nodded. "Your welcome."

************************************************************************************************

Hello people, sorry it took me so long to get the chapters out but my schedule is so jamed packed that it's not even funny. I'm sitting here at my computer watching the Olympics and they were talking about a gold medalist that looks like Harry Potter. He kinda does in a way. 

Guess what? I finally saw Lord of the Rings and I have just one thing to say. LEGOLAS ROCKS! Honestly when I was reading the story he was fastly becoming one of my favorite characters but when I saw the movie, I was sitting there thinking now I see why the reviewers compare him to Ron. I'm inspired to make ron just like him but don't worry, Ron will have his big archery scenes in future chapters. (I think within the next three or so).

Okay now that I got my ranting off I have a few people to thank for reading Chapter 3. There's:

Rose, Bluetreeleaves, Adnap Nottap, Artemis-chan, pokey, Mizzy-Izumi, shadowcat, gillian, lise, and wmlaw. 

Please keep reading and reviewing, it makes me very happy!

Okay now for the shameless promoting:

Just a tiny remimder that I also have two other Harry Potter fics.  Triple the Trouble, Triple the Fun, you might like this one if you like the funny antics of the Weasley twins and  April Fools, which is just a simple fic.

One fic that I highley recamend is  Angel of Apocalypse by Kirikarin, which is a very good fic about Ginny. It's very different and as always Kirikarin's origional characters are excellent.

Thanks and I'll get the next chapter out A.S.A.P.

Adios,

Gemin16


	5. Chapter 5: Reality Check

Storybook Crisis

by:Gemin16

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter but I do own Kitrina, Kalvin, Lady and any other character that's not in the story. (I think those are the only three). Oh, I also own this plot.

Chapter 5: Reality Check 

************************************************************************************************

Hermione sat at her desk inside her room studying an intermediate book on charms. She was quickly catching up to the education level of her age to the amaze of Professor McGonagall and the other elders. In the almost four months of living here, she was to the level of a fourth year. (A/N: Let's pretend that Hermione is this smart for the sake of my story and remember people, it's an AU.) At every second that she could spare she would sit down and study, much to the annoyance of Harry and Ron, who were fast becoming her very best friends. 

It shocked Hermione that two rough, immature, none scholarly, hormone driven, teenage boys could possibly become her best friends but it was the earnest truth. They spent a lot of time together laughing, talking and doing all sorts of things, when Harry and Ron weren't getting themselves into trouble. On this particular afternoon, Hedwig had delivered a note telling her that they would be spending two hours in detention with Snape. _ I wonder what they did this time?_ Hermione thought to herself with a laugh. Last time they had detention, it was because they were caught throwing mud on the school grounds. Hermione just rolled her eyes at them when she heard. 

They practically did everything together when they could, from walking in Hogsmeade to studying together. Even though Hermione was two years below their grade level she could still help them with their homework and get them good marks. In return they should her that their was such thing as having fun outside of books and studying. They introduced her to Honeydukes, the best candy store in the city; Ron's brothers, Fred and George, showed her their latest jokes (she had to make a very heavy reminder to herself not to accept any food from them when they were at their worst.) Not even her old best friend Amber did any of the things with Hermione like Ron and Harry did.

Hermione sighed as she looked out her tower window and watched the people fly around on their broomsticks. She didn't exactly fear hights but she avoided it whenever she could. The fact that people could ride five inch wide sticks amazed her, but then of course she realized that it was magic that made the brooms so safe. 

Turning away from the window she looked at the rest of her room. With an allowance that the elders gave her she brought some small things that made it her own room. A few books that she found interest, a small unicorn figurine that moved around, and one of her personal favorites was a small wind chime with enchanted crystals on it that would reflect different shapes on her wall. The best thing about it was that it took in the moonlight and the sunlight and filled her room with more life than it already had. The wind gave a soft howl as the chime sang and the crystals reflected a blue light all around her room landing a small patch on a brown sleeping form's eyes.

Kitrina gave a small yawn as she covered her eyes with the tip of her tale. The girl often stayed in her fox form when she was relaxing and found a favorite sleeping spot on Hermione's bed with Crookshanks. Kitrina was full of optimistic ideas and loved to laugh. When she wasn't bouncing around the walls she would hang around with Hermione and read along with her but it was obvious that she enjoyed sleeping more than anything. Hermione gave a small laugh as she watched Kitrina yawn swiftly and dig into her bed sheets. "For someone who slept for three hundred years and has been stuck inside an eighteen inch jar for over fifty years, she sure does love to lay around," she said to Crookshanks, who was cleaning himself on the floor. Hermione gave him an amuzing smirk. "Of course you do the same thing, too." Crookshanks gave a small meow and went onto cleaning his back.

Hermione sighed and went back to her book.

_ Knock Knock Knock_

Hermione looked up and wondered where the knocking was coming from. It was too light to be coming from her door, it wasn't coming from Crookshanks or Kitrina. She didn't even think to look behind her.

"Uh hello?- Hermione?"

Hermione turned around and looked strait into Harry and Ron's faces outside her window. She gave a small shriek as she saw them staring at her. "Harry? Ron? What are you doing?" She stood at the window and looked out further and saw that they were on broomsticks.

"It's called flying," Harry said to her. "I take it that you didn't get our owl yet?"

"What owl?" Hermione asked. "I got the owl about the detention from Hedwig, if that's what you mean; other than that I didn't get any other owl." Ron gave a loud sigh and looked at Harry with a frustrated look. 

"I told you we shouldn't have used Pig," he said to Harry.

"I would have least thought that if we sent him more than three hours ago that he would have made it by now."

"I bet he was blown away by the wind. It's a bit breezy today."

"He probably flew into the wrong window again."

As Ron and Harry discussed the mishaps of Pigwideon, Hermione looked at the sky and saw a small grey lump flying towards her. She caught it and held the little owl within her hands. Attached to Pig's leg was a small note that covered the tiny little stick. She took it off and read the note.

Hermione,

After detention we have Quidditch practice. We'll stop by your window and pick you up if you want to come.

Harry and Ron

Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at the two. "Ahem," she said.

Ron looked at her and saw Pig. "It's about time," he said to the owl. Pig flew over and landed (or more like ran into) Ron's shoulder and gave him an affectionate nip at his ear.

"So now that you've recieved the note," Harry said to Hermione, "you want to come to Quidditch practice with us?"

Hermione thought for a moment. She had heard about Quidditch and knew it was the biggest sport in the wizarding world. It dealt with brooms and balls, and that's where she left it at; she wasn't very interested in any type of sport. "I think I should stay and study," she said to them. 

Ron and Harry groaned. "Honestly Hermione how long have you been studying? Since McGonagall let you out of your classes?" Ron asked her. "Come on and enjoy yourself. Ginny said she'd meet us there so you can hang out with her while me and Harry practice. We'll go to the Three Broomsticks afterwards."

"Come on and take a break," Harry told her.

"Well okay, I'll meet you downstairs," Hermione told them.

"Why?" Harry asked her. "You could just ride with one of us."

Hermione went pale for a second. She didn't mind heights but flying in midair wasn't exactly what she had in mind. "What's wrong? Are you afraid of heights?" Ron asked her.

"Well-"

Harry shook his head with a smile. "Listen, it's quick and smoothe on the way to the stadium. It's on the other side of town and should take no more than fifteen minutes to get there. It's better than walking for forty-five minutes." 

"If you say so," Hermione said reluctantly. 

"Then you can ride with Ron," Harry said. "His broom isn't as rough as mine is."

Hermione nodded and went to grab her cloack and put it on. She stood over Kitrina's form and was about to tap her when she opened an eyelid, nodded, and covered her face with her tail again making a small yawning noise. Which signaled to Hermione that she knew where she was off to. She stiffled a laugh and gave Crookshanks a rubbed him under his chin. "Bye, Sweety." She went to the window and looked at Ron.

Ron smiled at her."Relax, we're only about seventy feet above the ground." He saw the look on Hermione's face get even paler. "Don't worry, I'll keep it steady for you," he said flying closer to her window. Hermione held onto his shoulder and slid in behind him. He held onto her arm as she steaded herself. Crookshanks stood at the window sill as Ron and Harry steered their brooms away from the window. "Just hold onto me and hang on." Hermione placed her arms around him and held on for dear life as they flew away from the castle. 

"So both of you play on the Quidditch team?" she asked them.

"Well I play the Seeker position," Harry told her. "And Ron is a reserve for Keeper and Chaser. We play for the Gryffindor Lions, one of the local teams."

"What are the others?"

"Well there's Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin," Ron said. "Slytherin is our biggest rival, we have a game against them next week." He had a look of disgust on his face. A harsh wind blew by them, causing Hermione to hold on tighter to Ron. His didn't say anything but his ears went slightly pink.

"I take it you don't like them very much."

"To make it simple, Snape is a big supporter of them and you know how we feel about him. Not only that but Malfoy is apart of that team."

Hermione looked questioningly at him. "Who's Malfoy?"

Ron sumed it up for her. "The biggest-" He called him something pretty violent that made Hermione give him a severe look. 

Harry was laughing. "That pretty much describes him."

Sensing that she should change the subject Hermione turned back to Quidditch. "So exactly how do you play?"

"There's two teams," Ron started.

"With seven players on each side," Harry finished. "There are exactly three hoops on each side of the field."

"There are four balls. A red ball called a Quaffle, two black ones called Bludgers, and a tiny golden one called a Snitch."

"There are four positions, Chaser, Beater, Keeper and Seeker."

"And what do they do?" Hermione asked but her question was never answered because they reached the Quidditch stadium. It reminded Hermione of a football (A/N: I'm talking about Britian's football) field except slightly larger. It was round and the stands went in pairs about fifty feet int he air. Banners hung all around revealing colors of yellow, green, scarlet and blue. Like in Harry's decription exactly three hoops, different heights, were positioned on each side of the field. Ron let her off and hoped off his broom. Miraculously, the ride on the way over was actually very enjoyable and the only rough part was when the wind blew. 

"Potter, Weasley, get over here! Your late!" A voice called to them from the field. All three of them turned around and saw a bunch of people with brooms. One of them, obviously the team captain, was the one yelling at them.

"Better get going before Oliver blows a cauldron," Harry muttered. He pointed Hermione to one of the stands nearby. "You can wait there, Ginny should be here at any moment. She did say she was coming, right Ron?"

"That's what she told me at school. Said she had notin' to do and wanted to see Hermione." Ron just shrugged and walked off with Harry. "Just wait there, she should come at any moment."

Hermione sighed and went to go sit in the stands. "If I knew I was just going to sit around and watch, I would have brought a book with me."

"Why when you have me to talk to?"a voice said from behind her. Hermione turned around and saw Ginny walking over to sit next to her, still dressed in her school robes. She was about the same height as Hermione and looked like the other Weasleys with red hair but brown instead of blue eyes. "Is practice about to start?"

"I guess so. Everyone is just standing around."

"Wood always gives everyone a good briefing before each practice except it takes about a half an hour to do that. He takes it the most serious out of them all."

"Exactly how do you play Quidditch?" Hermione asked. 

Ginny looked up at the field and thought. "It's a bit complicated to explain but here's my way of explaining it. There are exactly four balls, each one having its own purpose. The red one is the Quaffle. It's the Chaser's job to pass the Quaffle around until it ends up going into one of the goals on each side. Scoring a goal is worth ten points and it is the Keeper's duty to bloack the Quaffle from scoring."

"I understand that, but what about the others? Blugers and a Snit, I think?" 

Ginny laughed. "Something like that. While the Quaffle is in the air, there are two black balls called Bludgers. They're enchanted to fly around and run into the players."

Hermione looked at her. "But isn't that dangerous?"

"That's why the Beaters are there. They go around with clubs and make sure none of the Bludgers hit any of their team players. Fred and George are the Beaters for this team. They also aim the Bludgers to the other team's players. The last ball is called the Snitch. It's a tiny little golden ball with wings that flys all over hte place. Once it's caught the game is over and the team earns one-hundred and fifty points. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. They have the hardest position because the Snitch is so small and quick."

"That's the position Harry plays, right?"

"Correct." 

"And Ron plays the Keeper and Chaser position?"

"As a reserve," Ginny said nodding.

Hermione looked at the other players, each one was wearing some old scarlet robes and had a broom in their hands. "Then who are the other players?" Ginny sat there and explained everything to her. Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell were the Chasers the Captain, Oliver Wood, was the Keeper. The other reserve player was a school-mate of Harry and Ron's, Seamus Finnigan. She watched as all of them practiced with mild interest and spoke with Ginny.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Ginny asked her.

"I'd rather be studying than watching teenagers play on broomsticks," Hermione said dryly. 

"No, silly, I meant here in the city. I only met you once when you visited with Ron, we really haven't sat down and spoken with each other. I really haven't scene you around as much as I thought I would." Ginny had heard all about Hermione's ordeal from Ron. Not too many people knew the whole tale, most just thought Hermione as a foreign traveler living coming to live in the city.

"Oh, well I'm really enjoying myself, I never knew that worlds like this existed, nevertheless in books. I could only dream about making this my reality."

Ginny smiled. "So what did you do in your old world?"

"I don't know," Hermione said shugging. "I would usually read and study, sometimes I would visit the museums or galleries when I wasn't too busy."

Ginny gave her a weird look. "What?" Hermione asked.

"Didn't you ever hang out with any of your friends?" Ginny asked her.

Hermione turned a little red. "Well I guess I haven't had a real friend since Amber left."

"Amber?"

"She was my best friend up till I was eleven, then she had to move far away. I haven't spoken to her in the longest of times. No one else has ever really bothered trying to be my friend."

"Wow, it must have been lonely," Ginny said.

"I never really realized how lonely I was till I came here," Hermione said leaning back against the stands. "Then I met Harry, Ron, you, and the others and well look at me." She smiled and laughed. "I'm training to be a witch, I live in the government building with my lazy cat and I'm having fun." She laughed again. _ I never thought I'd have this much fun with King Author or Nancy Drew_, she thought to herself as she spoke more with Ginny.

Right after practice, the whole team went to the Three Broomsticks for a pre-game party. The Gryffindor Lions were one of the most popular teams in the country . In four days they were going to play a game against the local Slytherin team. As they entered the tavern, many people were already in there since it was after the working hours. The tavern was warm and the air was filled with smoke from the fire. 

Madam Rosemerta was the owner of the tavern and was busy giving everyone what they ordered. Her high heels were heard cliclking all over as she greeted the customers. "Good afternoon to ye' all, go ahead and take a seat and I'll have one of my kids get your order," she said with a smile and balencing two trays filled with oranges drinks. Everyone went towards their own spot. Wood went to towards his own spot to work out more Quidditch tactics ("One track mind, that guy," Ron said); Fred, George, and the girls went off to another table to meet with thier friend, Lee Jordan. Seamus had seen his best friend, Dean Thomas, and went to go talk with him. Harry and the others went to a table near the end of the tavern and took their seats.

A young man wearing purple robes and a waiter band around his left arm came and took their orders. "Hullo, what can I get you today?"

"Butterbeers for all of us," Harry told him. The waiter nodded and left to go fetch their drinks.

"What's a Butterbeer?" Hermione asked. 

"It's drink of the house," Ron told her. "It's sweet and warm. Trust me, you'll love it." He licked his lips to prove his point.

"It's Madam Rosemerta's specialty besides her spiced mead," Ginny told her.

***

Over in the corner, Kalvin sat at a table reading a book about illusion charms. He had a Butterbeer in front of him and was sipping it periodically. At the present time period he had recieved no new jobs from his frequent employers and was enjoying his free time quietly. His family had left him a generous amount of money so that he could live without needing a heavy job. He was paid a fairly good amount for his duties and was told that he would be contacted in the future for more jobs. Kalvin really could care less whether Nott would ask for his services or not, he enjoyed other things. Another one of his employers, Letterman, had him spying on his brother, who was planning to take their father's collection of enchanted singing teapots. Why would anyone try and steal singing teapots was beyond him, but it payed well for such trivial work.

He looked over to the side of the tavern and noticed some old schoolmates of his that he graduated with last year. They being the Weasley twins and their "triplet" Jordan with Spinnet, Bell, and Johnson. He had been associates with them. Kalvin didn't have friends, he had associates. A mercenary didn't need friends in their life book, they didn't have time for friends. They would just get in the way. He watched as Alicia punch Lee in the arm for something he said. He backed away from her with his goofy smile and continued to pester her, as Fred and George laughed. Kalvin shook his head and went back to his book. Distractions like that would ruin what he strived for, he just didn't want to screw up like his old man did.

Kalvin lived alone in the Paradox home, his mother died in the hands of a troll when he was six and remembered little about her. His father raised him with the assistance of Lady and taught him everything he needed to know about being a mercenary, even if Kalvin's interest weren't always into it. Despite that, one thing that Kalvin had inherited from his mother was her keen eye and ability to gain more from one's mistakes. He saw all his father's error and improved them for himself. Ever since his father's death three years ago, Kalvin separated himself from the rest of the world only confiding in Lady when he had to get something off his chest.

He shrugged as he turned the other direction, the crowded tavern was how he liked it. That way he would seem like just another bystander to everyone else. 

He turned another page in his book when bright sparks came flying in through the door and windows and explosions could be heard from the outside coming in. People from inside the tavern started screaming as ten men dressed in black and wearing mask came inside wands drawn and yelling out threats. Kalvin ducked behind the table like everyone else, it wasn't that he was afraid but he knew better than to get in the way of the Death Eaters. It took a few minutes and a few more shots were fired until everyone was silent and then the tallest and biggest of the hooded figures shouted among everyone.

"SILENCE or the kid gets the curse! We demand to see Phillip O'Connel, we know he's here!" He grabbed a teenage boy by the hair and pulled him towards him, his wand at the boy's head. " Come out or the boy gets it!" A few wizards tried to take out their wands but the Death Eaters were quick about it. They pointed their wands and shouted out the Cruciatus Curse, making the bold wizards dub over in pain. Kalvin shook his head, he was all ready noticing mistakes as he kept quiet.

Finally a short wizard, with square glasses stood up slowly droping his wand on the floor. "Leave the boy alone, I'm the one you want." Immediately, one of the Death Eaters grabbed him by his robes and pinned him against the wall with a spell. 

"Where's the item?!" he demanded as O'Connel was being pinned.

"What are you talking about?" O'Connel said.

"Your the head of Magical Talismans! Dammit where the hell is the item?" Just then a group of wizards could be heard outside the Three Broomsticks and the leader made a motion. Four of the Death Eaters beside him shouted out a spell and all of the glass tankards and windows exploded spreading glass and drinks everywhere. The leader threw down the boy and was the first to Apparate out of the tavern with the others following. A second later the first Auror stepped in, obviously too late. Kalvin sighed as he wipped off the glass from his robes. 

"Looks like Voldemort is getting desperate." His brown eyebrows narrowed. "I wonder what for?"

***

Hermione was taking her third sip of Butterbeer when the horde of Death Eaters stormed in. It started with a direct bang of a table falling down and someone falling to the floor in pain. She saw the masked men entering with their wands stretched out. She felt Harry pull her down under the table like the rest of the screaming people inside the pub. She watched in horror as more bodies fell to the ground, some of them not even moving. She stood there frozen as she saw Harry move up in front of her, Ron, and Ginny.

The leader stood powerfully out in front as the group quieted down. His masked kept any identity hidden secret but his stance in front of everyone showed that he indeed was a confident and powerful wizard. His eyes searched as people around him and the others looked back at him with either hateful or frightened glances. Hermione could feel her heart multiply each beat and hear her shallow breath as she watched his eyes search the room. Before anyone could react, the leader reached out and grabbed a blond kid, about fifteen, by the hair and pull him up aiming his wand at the teen's throat.

"SILENCE or the kid gets the curse!" Hermione could see the leader's grip tighten around his wand. "We demand to see Phillip O'Connel, we know he's here! Come out or the kid gets it!" A moment of silence followed and out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw a wizard jump up and try to curse the Death Eaters but they reacted to fast. The wizard was down on the ground with the Cruciatus curse on him. After that, a small wizard stood up and dropped his wand. "Leave the boy alone, I'm the one you want," he said. One of the Death Eaters grabbed him by his robes and pinned him against the wall.

"Where's the item?!" 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Your the head of Magical Talismans. Dammit where the hell is the item!" Hermione's eyes widened when he mentioned an item. She looked at Harry and then at Ron. Each nodded. They knew that the Death Eaters were talking about Merlin's items.

Just then a sound outside the tavern could be heard and the Death Eaters released O'Connel and the boy and a few of them yelled out a spell. The next moment, Hermione felt glass all around her shatter and fly everywhere and the drinks that were inside spread everywhere. She winced as she felt glass from a tankard cut her hand. After a second she glanced back at the front where the Death Eaters were gone and a new group of wizards stood where they were. 

She sat up and looked around. People were wiping glass and checking to see if everyone around them were okay. Obviously not, someone was crying over a still body. She quickly turned around and saw Ron help Ginny up with Fred and George running towards them. Ginny was a little shaken but otherwise okay and had tears in her eyes. Ron looked slightly disturned but otherwise normal. Hermione wondered how he could stay calm. She was on the verge of letting out a scream.

_ It's okay, Hermione_, she said to herself. _ Your okay and so are your friends. _ She jumped as she felt a hand touch her shoulder, it was Harry. He looked at her. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be all right," she lied. She was actually pretty scared. She shook the thought out of her head and looked around, Ron was still with Ginny and was talking with Fred and George. 

"Listen take Ginny home, and I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm going to make sure that Hermione gets back okay with Harry. Tell Mum that I'll probably catch dinner over at the castle with Dad and Percy, if I can't make it home on time," she heard him say. He nodded and walked quickly back to Hermione and Harry. He scratched his ear. "That was lovely," he said to himself. 

"Is everyone okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, Ginny will be all right. Fred and George are going to take her home along with the others." He paused. "Hey Hermione, your hand is bleeding." Hermione looked at her hand and saw the inch long gash on her right hand, which was bleeding slowly. 

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," she started to say but Harry grabbed a rag from the table and covered her hand. "We'll see Madam Pomfrey at the castle when we get back. We need to go, I have a feeling we need to see Kitrina." They left the tavern after talking with Aurors for a minute, with one of them healing Hermione's hand and the few cuts on Ron and Harry. It was dark when they finally got out and the streets were lively with chatter and gossip from the residence around. They're were people walking and yelling at each other from far away. Hermione ignored it because she was still a little shaken but kept quiet until they were almost to the castle, when Harry spoke up.

"They were definitely searching for an item."

"Probably the one being guarded by the humans," Hermione said.

"You don't think?" Ron started out.

"No," Hermione said. "Kitrina would have known if You-Know-Who had another one."

"We need to find the next one as soon as possible," Harry said. "If we have one then Voldemort can't have complete power over them all. That's what Kitrina said right?"

"Yeah, she said the items full power could only be reached when all six were placed together," Ron said. "So where do we start? We know that there's an item with the humans, the giants, the mermaids and dwarves, the fairies and pixies, and the unicorns and centaurs."

"Where exactly do half of them live?" Hermione asked.

"Most of them within the forbidden forest," Ron told her, "beyond the lake and on the other side of the creek."

"That's going to be a trip of its own," Harry said. 

"Another thing we have to worry about is getting a hold of the leaders," Hermione said, "they're the ones who hold the task and the item." They were inside the castle and walking up to the Great Hall, where most of the elders were. The three of them entered only to see a jumble of wizards and witches running around like mad with owls flying in and out. They stood there for about five minutes until Penelope finally saw the three of them. 

"Oh thank goodness your here Hermione, Harry," she said panting, she had been running around like mad. "Ron, Percy has been wondering about you and the others."

"We're fine, what's happening?" Harry asked her.

"There's been attacks by Death Eaters all over," she said, "Fifteen dead and at least fifty injured. It's been happening all afternoon. They come and go and only two have been caught. They seem to be after something but no one knows what."

"You mean they didn't just attack the Three Broomsticks?" Ron asked.

"You were at the Three Broomsticks?" 

"Yeah," Hermione answered. "We were there when the whole thing happened."

"You weren't hurt were you?"

"No, we're just fine, did the Death Eaters find anything?" Harry asked

"Not that I know of." Someone called Penelope's name, she nodded to the trio and left. Harry looked at them. "Well it looks like Voldemort is going on a searching frenzy." 

Ron winced. "I agree. Maybe we should leave here and find someplace quieter to talk. This place is too loud." People were running everywhere. They turned and left the room and headed to the library, where it was bound to be quiet and deserted. On their way there, they came upon an interesting duo.

"Crookshanks, what are you doing?" Hermione asked picking up her cat. He meowed and looked towards the darken hall where a small yelp could be heard. Kitrina poped out in front of them running her head.

"That's the last time I jump down that flight of stairs," she mumbled to herself, when she spotted her friends. "Hello."

"What were you up to?" Ron asked her.

"Oh, I was just on my way to the kitchens for something to eat. I happen to be very found of their chicken pies." she said drifting off, then she looked at them. "What's with all the long faces?"

"Voldemort is searching the whole city for all the items," Hermione told her. Kitrina looked a little shocked. 

"He's not going to find anything here," she said. "At least not anything belonging to the magical creatures." 

"What? Why?" Harry asked.

"Well after the robbery of the Goblin's item, almost all magical creatures re-hid their items to make sure they weren't stolen. That's why Headfang left so early."

"And when exactly were you going to tell us this?" Ron asked.

Kitrina scratched her nose. "Well I just kinda realized it today, it's only been a week since the last incident. It would have taken time."

"Well that's good to hear that You-Know-Who has to go about searching like we do, but the question is. Where exactly are we going to find these creatures?" Hermione asked her. "The Goblin item was just lucky." All of a sudden, large heavy footsteps could be heard in the hallway. Kitrina gulped and quickly went into her fox form and ran under Harry's robes, where she couldn't be seen. The footsteps got louder and finally, the owner came into sight. It was the forest keeper, Hagrid.

" 'ullo Harry, Ron. Good day to you too, Hermione. How are things coming along?"

"We're okay, Hagrid," Harry said to his friend. Hermione had seen Hagrid a few times inside the castle and was even introduced to him by Dumbledore and McGonagall. He was knidly and extremly tall, always wearing an overcoat full of many "interesting" items. He was usual business was to talk with Harry or Dumbledore. 

"That's good to hear. Ron, are you going to patrol later on?"

"Uhh yeah, I'll get to you on that tomorrow. I'll send Pig with a note."

"All 'ight then. I'll talk to you later. I need to get somewhere out in Diagon Ally." He left with a smile.

Hermione looked at Ron. "Patrol? Is that what you were doing the first time we met?"

Ron looked up at the ceiling. "All I do is make sure no one has been disturbing the land or animals. That's all." He was interupted bny Kitrina sticking her head out of Harry's robes. She looked both ways and then changed back into her human form.

"That was close, I wouldn't want to be seen by anyone. Okay back to your question, Mione, why don't you just ask that man that just past. What was his name? Hagrid?"

"Why would we want to ask him?" Hermione asked.

"He's a giant."

"He's a what?" all three of them asked completely shocked.

"A g-giant," she said surprised. "Okay, acually he's most likely part giant, but he's a giant in all. Didn't you know?"

"I always thought he was just really big," Ron said.

"Now that you think about it, he is rather tall for a person," Hermione said. 

"Are you sure?" Harry asked Kitrina.

She nodded. "Very, he gives off the feeling of a giant. Master was very good friends with one. Kluppo was his name, I think."

Harry smiled. "If he is a giant, then we can get their item before Voldemort does. That next item should be as good as ours by the end of the week!"

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Yikes. Sorry that took so long to post, minor writers block and I've been really busy with competitions of all sorts. The next chapter should be up soon with Spring Break next week. I'm working on a Ginny story and I have a Ron story in mind but they shouldn't affect my writing for Storybook Crisis. This really wasn't much of a chapter I guess but it's a prequel to the next chapter which will be filled with action-packed goodness!

Thanks to the following for reading:

Weasley, Weasley, and Jordan; Adnap Nottap, shadowcat, BLUETREELEAVES, Mizzy-Izzumi, Funkiechick, DecrepitMonkey58, and clara200. Thanks a bunch!

Nothing else except I need a volunteer to be my beta-reader for a lot of my stories, which are mostly anime and Harry Potter and it may resort to other genres. Any volunteers?

Shameless promoting time:

Beyond Redemtion was a good fic by Davesmom and her other fics prove to be real good. That's really all for now.

Toodles,

Gemin16 


	6. Chapter 6: A Paradoxial Victory

Storybook Crisis

by: Gemin16

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or it's themes, but I do own this plot and any new characters.

Chapter 6: A Paradoxical Victory

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"Okay, who's exactly going to ask him?" Hermione asked as they stood about ten feet in front of Hagrid's cottage, which stood at the entrance to the forbidden forest. The trio plus Kitrina were hopping they would find the next item by asking Hagrid, whom they found out was part giant from Kitrina. 

Ron and Harry looked at each other. "You ask him," they said to each other in unison.

"You've known him longer," Ron said to Harry.

"You work for him," Harry told Ron. Hermione stared at the two and then looked at Kitrina, who was standing next to her. Kitrina shrugged and Hermione sighed.

"If you two don't settle this then I'll ask him," she said. The guys looked at her and then back at each other.

"I'll ask him," Harry said finally resolving it. "But if he ask then you can do the explaining," he said to Kitrina, who just nodded. 

"Okay then lets get this over with so we can at least find that item." Kitrina shrank to her fairy size and retreated within Hermione's robes as Harry knocked on the door. A gruff bark and the sound of something dropping came from within as large shoes hit the floor and the enormous oak door opened and Hagrids warm black eyes greeted them. "Hullo there, wasn't expecting company today. What brings yer here?" 

"Uhh we need to talk to about something," Harry said as they entered Hagrid's hut. Hermione watched with amusement as a large boarhound jumped on top of Harry, licking him to death and covering him with slober.

"Down Fang. Sit down all of yer and have some tea that I just made." They all made their way to the small table that sat in the middle of his kitchen which was basically in the same room with the rest of his things. He took a steaming kettle off the stove and placed it on a tray with tea cups on it and put some big black lumps on it also. He sat the tray down and sat with the others. He served them tea and a lump each. "Here yer go, mint tea and rock cakes, oh wait I forgot the sugar." He stood up real quick.

Hermione took a quick glance at Ron and saw that he was motioning to her not to eat the rock cakes as he tapped on one with his knuckles. It was as hard as a rock. _ Oh boy_, she thought as she looked at hers. Hagrid came back and put the sugar on the table.

"Arn' yer hungry?"

"Umm no, actually we had a pretty decent lunch," Ron told him. It was partially true.

It seemed to satisfy Hagrid. "Oh, well then what brings you three here for a visit?"

Harry scratched the back of his head. "Well Hagrid, we were just wondering if you by any chance happen to know any Giants?"

Hagrid looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"Umm because we want to find something that they have." Hermione noticed that Harry was having difficulty with what he was trying to say.

She decided to stepped in. "Well you see, we're kinda in a hurry to find this item and we thought that you may have known some Giants."

Hagrid stirred his tea and looked at it. "How did yer know that I was part Giant?"

All three of them looked shocked. "How did you guess?" Ron asked sheepishly.

"Why else would yer come ask me if I knew any Giants if you didn't expect me to be one?" _ That made perfect sense_, Hermione thought. 

"Well we didn't exactly figure it out until yesterday," she said. "Hagrid, we asked you this because we know that the Giants have an item that once belonged to Merlin. You-Know-Who is after them now and it's extremely important that we find it."

Now it was Hagrid's turn to looked shocked. "So you mean yer the ones that Headfang was talkin' about?"

"Pardon?" Harry asked.

Hagrid smiled. "Headfang told me to let the others know that the quest for the items is one and that the Goblin's item was stolen."

"What was stolen?" Hermione asked.

"How should I know? We o'ny know what our own item is an' that's it." Hagrid shrugged. "I'm glad it's you three. But how did you find out?"

"Her," Ron said pointing at Hermione's robes.

" 'ermione?" Hagrid asked confused.

"No not me, he's talking about Kitrina," Hermione corrected. She reached within the collar of her robes and pulled out a five inch fox and sat it on the table.

"An' what exactly is she?" Hargrid said pointing at Kitrina. She gave a small shake of her body and turned into her human form.

"I, sir, am Kitrina Cleva Sly," she said staring at Hagrid. "I was the proud assistant to Master Merlin and am the guide to these three that are searching for his items. I'm the one who figured out that you were part Giant, I can feel it in you."

"What exactly are you?" Hagrid asked squinting down at her, almost an inch away from Kitrina's face.

Kitrina backed away from Hagrid's face. "In short like a chimera, three parts in one. Part Witch, part magical creature, in this case a fox, and spirit. Now that I've answered your question, answer ours. Do you know where the Giant's item is?"

"Interesting creature yer 're, 'though it you'd be a lot more 'teresting if yer had fangs or something. Course I know where the Giant item is," Hagrid said. "All of us do. My people respected Merlin and we guard his item with pride. Our leader, Hugon, has it kept hidden within his tribe located deep within the mountains on the other side on the west side of the forest."

"But there's no village on the other side of the forest," Ron stated to Hagrid.

"No but Olympe will be there," he said smiling. "She's the guardian one the other side of the forest and can take you three to the tribe where they will proceed from there."

"Hopefully Voldemort won't get there before us," Kitrina said as Hagrid, Hermione, and Ron winced.

"Then it's going to be decided that we leave for this village tomorrow?" Harry asked them. "We don't have class tomorrow and it should be easy to come up with an excuse."

"I agree," Kitrina said.

"So do I," Hermione said.

"Definitely," Ron added.

"Will you be coming along, Hagrid?" Hermione asked him. "We need someone to help get there. The forest is pretty big."

Hagrid shook his head smiling. "Can't. I've got ter much ter do 'ere, besides Ron knows the forest like the back of his hand. He should be able to get yer across safely. I wouldn't trust nobody else besides a few others to do what he does for me. Aint that right, Ron?"

Ron's ears went pink as he looked towards his tea. "Er-right," he said quietly. Hermione stared at him. She did remember how he lead her through the forest with ease on her first day and he looked like he wasn't afraid of the things in there. She didn't know why but it made her feel much better now that she thought about it..

"Now that this is settled, we have to go to make preparations for tomorrow," Harry told Hagrid as they stood up to leave. "Thanks for telling us how to get there. We'll retrieve it and keep it safe from Voldemort."

Hagrid winced but smiled. "I'm just glad its you three to do it because I knew yer going to get it and the others before You-Know-Who does. Good luck and make sure you stop 'ere before you enter."

***

The next morning, Hermione was up before dawn, ready to leave with Harry and Ron, who said they would come and get her. She put on her cloak over her purple robes and made sure that everything was as it should be. Crookshanks watched with interest as she looked inside a book for something. It was a text about Giants and how they lived. It turned out that many people thought they were on the side of You-Know-Who but Hermione realized that if they kept an item of Merlin's, it was sure to be false.

Turning away from the book, Hermione looked at Kitrina, who was sleeping silently on the neatly made bed and tapped her between the ears. The brown fox looked up and gave her a questioning look. "They should be here soon," Hermione told her but it didn't seem to phase Kitrina one bit. She yawned and was about to go back to sleep when a light tapping was heard on the door. Hermione opened it up and found no one there. "Hullo," she called silently. All of a sudden Ron's head appeared from no where making Hermione jumped back with a loud gasp. Ron caught her arm and covered her mouth.

"Shhhh," he said to her. "Are you and Kitrina ready?"

Hermione nodded but looked at him strangely. "How? What-?" she managed to say. She was still in shock.

Ron smiled at her. "It's Harry's invisible cloak. See?" He lifted up a part of the cloak to show Harry underneath with a lantern in his hand.

"Get Kitrina and lets go," Harry said to them. The fox showed up and climbed underneath the cloak as if on cue. Hermione closed her door and stepped underneath the cloak with the others. They walked carefully down the hall and saw Ministry officials who worked there including Professor McGonagall and even Dumbledore himself. After making it down to the bottom floor, the group snuck out the main door and walked into an abandoned ally. Taking off the cloak, Harry folded it up and set it within a nap bag that he brought along.

"That went by smoothly," he said looking at the others. Hermione looked and saw that Ron had brought his bow and quiver of arrows with him, while Harry had just brought his bag with him. "I brought some sandwiches that Uncle Remus had made for us," Harry told them.

"Does he know?" Hermione asked.

"No, he and Uncle Sirius just think that I'm going into the forest with Ron but we had to sneak in to get you because we're not supposed to be in there so early in the morning. Come on let's go." With Harry leading, they walked along the deserted streets of Hogsmeade. Hermione looked at Ron's weapons, the bow was clearly made out of a strong wood material, as well as the string. The arrows were long and thick with feathered ends and were plentiful in his quiver.

"Why do you have to bring those along?" Hermione asked him.

"Just in case something decides to attack us," Ron said looking at her. "It's really dangerous in the forest. You should know, that troll almost got you."

Hermione sighed to herself. He just had to remind her about that. "Well, why couldn't you just use your wand? You don't need as much energy and it's less to carry."

This time Harry answered her question. "The forbidden forest is really strange. For some odd reason unknown to us, there's a mist that travels around the forest. Whenever you're caught in a pocket, magic doesn't work, which is what makes the forest so dangerous. No one knows why the mist has this effect but it's the reason Ron carries the bow and arrows around. He's one of the few who actually dare to travel inside that forest alone."

"Oh." They kept on walking in silence as they passed by the houses and shops. Kitrina trotted in front of them, still in her fox form, ignoring their conversation. Hermione could of sworn that she heard Kitrina humming to herself. After a while, they reached Hagrid's cabin where he was sitting up front playing a flute with fang by his side. As soon as the boar hound spotted the small brown fox, he took off running after her while Kitrina ran and jumped into Harry's arms. She quickly hissed at Fang, who back away with a wine. She jumped down from Harry's arms and turned to her human form.

"Serves that dog right, chasing after me." Everyone laughed.

"On yer way now?" Hagrid asked laughing silently.

"Yeah, we should be back by night fall if we make it," Ron said looking ahead a the forest. It was dark but light shown over the tops of the trees with the sun rising. Birds were flying over head with a few owls mixed in.

"I sent Olympe an owl about yer journey to 'er house and she wrote me back saying that she'll be waiting. If all goes well yer should make it there by noon."

Harry nodded and fixed his cloak. "Thanks, Hagrid. Make up an excuse for us if Uncle Sirius or Remus come by and ask anything if we're not back in time."

"And will you please make one up for me as well," Hermione asked.

Hagrid gave them a disagreeing look. "Now you know I don't like the likes of a lie," he paused, "but since its for a good cause, I'll try."

Hermione gave him a hug. "Thank you, Hagrid."

Hagrid smiled. "Yer welcome but I'm helpless if it's Dumbledore who ask me. Can't lie to him worth me life."

"Then that's okay," Harry said. He looked at the forest, then at Ron, Hermione, and Kitrina, who had returned to her fox form. "Ready?"

"Let's go." Hagrid waved to them as they entered the dark forest. _ I know they'll be able to do it_, he thought to himself.

As they walked the forest got lighter with every passing minute and Ron started to point out different things with his bow. "See those tracks right there, they definitely belong to a troll," he said to Harry. Hermione gave a shudder, it was obvious that she didn't like trolls at all. She was looking around the bushes when she noticed something shining on a branch. She walked up closer to it and picked it up. It was a shiny, silver hair that sparkled.

"Hey, Ron, what's this?" she asked holding it up to him. Ron looked at it and smiled at her.

"It's a strand of unicorn hair," he told her. "Your lucky, they say when you find hair of a unicorn in the wild a good omen will happen."

"That's a good sign," Harry said as they passed under a grove of trees. "We're going to need all the luck we can get." He looked around and saw Kitrina up in the trees. "What are you doing up there?" he called up to her. 

"Better keep your voice low, Harry," Ron said to him. Harry nodded and continued to look up at Kitrina, who was up on a high branch looking at something.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"If we make too much noise, then we'll disturb some very nasty creatures in the forest. I know that they have a tendency to be very brash when their disturbed, especially the demon ones. I speak from personal experience on that case. The birds can get pretty nasty too." He was interrupted by Kitrina hopping down the tree and landing with a leap on Ron's head. Ron scowled at her as she hopped off and landed on the ground with an acrobatic leap.

"You know, I can see a resemblance between you and that large fur ball of Hermione's," he said with a harsh voice. Hermione gave him a hurtful look but then smiled. She knew he never meant any of the mean comments he said toward Crookshanks. 

Kitrina stared at him with a bemused looked and narrowed her eyes and ears. She quickly changed into her human form and crossed her arms. "Well if your going to be that harsh, then maybe I should point out a few things wrong about you! It's not that hard, seeing as to your poking fun at me. Let's see, for one your more stubborn than a Hippogriff in a snowstorm, your as clueless as a Gnome." During all this she was poking Ron in the chest with her finger with Hermione and Harry laughing.

"And further more, your-"

"What exactly did you see up there?" Harry asked her. Kitrina turned away from an annoyed Ron and looked toward Harry and Hermione. She rolled her eyes up and poked a finger at her mouth. 

"Umm, I was actually looking for how long it was till we reached the end and I noticed that the house Hagrid was talking about is only a mile or two away from here. We on schedule."

"That's good to hear," Hermione said. "I really want to get out of here."

"Why, does the forest scare you?" Ron asked hauntingly.

"No, its just that I want to get that item and leave. I have some studying to do for a test."

Both Harry and Ron groaned when all of a sudden a rustle came from the bushes. In a flash Ron's bow was in his hands with an arrow positioned at the spot. He quickly stepped in front of Harry and Hermione, who had both their wands ready. Much to their surprise a small animal came out and looked at them with brown eyes like Kitrina's. Ron lowered his bow just a bit. "It's only a Crup, wonder who it belongs too."

Hermione raised her wand down and looked at the Crup. To her it looked just like a Jack Russell Terrier except the tail was different. It waged it tail at all three of them and gave a bark. "What do you think it wants?" she asked the others.

"She said her name is Gigi," Kitrina said. Everyone looked at her.

"You mean you can understand her?" Harry asked.

Kitrina shrugged. "Yeah, your point?"

Ron narrowed his eyes at her. "No comment." He shouldered his bow. "So what does "Gigi" want?"

Kitrina raised an eyebrow at Ron and looked towards Gigi. Gigi barked a few times and Kitrina nodded. "She says her owner sent her to come and find us. It's this time of day when the Tebos come rampaging through the forest and Olympe doesn't want trampled house-guest." Gigi barked again and ran through the bush. Kitrina looked at the others and began to follow. "You heard her. Let's go."

Ron sighed. "No we didn't." He followed her through the bush with Hermione and Harry following him. As they walked Gigi gave out a few barks and even a woof as she trotted along side Kitrina. Kitrina nodded in return and spoke to her in English.

"What's she saying?" Hermione asked.

"She's telling me that the Giant village has been in real choas lately. Every few nights there has been signs of a large bird sweeping through the air. The elder isn't sure what kind it is but it hasn't shown up since recently. Gigi says it gives off an evil smell, kinda like rotten eggs." Gigi barked. "Oh, she said more like rotten lettuce instead."

Hermione looked at Ron and Harry. "Thinks it's You-Know-Who?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "Who knows but if it was, then he would have attacked."

Ron nodded his agreement. Gigi barked a few times again and Kitrina nodded. Then she spun around, stopping making the others stop along with her. "Listen there's something important I need to tell you." She had a serious look on her face.

"What?" Ron asked her. 

"When the challenge arises, Ron, you have to be the one to do it." Ron looked shocked. 

"Why?"

"From what Gigi is hinting me on, you're the one for the job."

Hermione looked at Kitrina, puzzled. "What hint did she give you?"

Kitrina's fox ears stuck out of her head. "All I can say is that it's a battle between the mind and the opponent. The wrong move can cost you your men. I'm telling you this know because once we reach Olympe's house I won't be able to help you in any way. Ron, you'll do it, right?"

Ron looked confused. "I guess so but I wonder what it is?"

Suddenly Gigi barked and Kitrina's ears wiggled. The bushes shook back and forth as a tall, capacious woman came out. Dressed simply in normal clothes, her black eyes looked at the three teens and the two animals. "Gigi, 'ere yoo are." The woman spoke with a heavy accent. "I vondered 'ow long it would 'ave taken yoo to get 'ere. Vere yoo dawdling?" Gigi barked and went to go by the woman's side. She turned to Hermione and the others and smiled. " 'ullo, yoo must be 'arry, 'ermione, and Ron. My name is Olympe." The trio shook there heads. She then turned to Kitrina and gave her an odd look. "Yoo must be ze weird creature Hagrid mentioned in 'is letter.

Kitrina growled and looked at Olympe. "Weird creature! You know back then when master was alive, people were never as rude!" Her ears were all the way up and her tale was sticking out. Hermione tried not to laugh but stiffled a giggle instead. 

Olympe ignored Kitrina and turned back to the others. "Hugon is waiting for you in ze village. Pleaze follow me. Fox-girl-"

"It's Kitrina."

"Kitrina. You will have to wait with Gigi in my cottage." 

Kitrina gave a humph. "Fine." She turned to the others. "Ron, remembered what I told you. Good luck." With her bright smile, Kitrina turned into her fox form and followed Gigi into a direction of a small cottage in the background.

"I vould take you to my 'ouse but Hugon wants you to come to the village in a 'urry, ze sooner ze better."

"Why what's wrong?" Harry asked.

Olympe lead them onto a worn through trail. "Ve have been 'aving strange things happen at night. Wolves will roam around howling and growling at doors. Birds come and go pounding on our windows, we think it is the work of You-Know-Who."

"Birds and wolves?" Hermione said. She thought for a moment and looked ahead. The giant village looked like a normal city filled with large buildings to fit the size of the Giants. "I don't see why the giants can't live in peace with the humans in Hogsmeade."

"Zats vat I would like to know," Olympe said.

Harry and Ron had sheepish looks on there faces. "Well, I guess it's because the people in town think that the Giants are in the same league with You-Know-Who," Ron said. "I remember hearing stories from others about how Giants will crush the bones of small children and eat them with their supper."

"Rubbish," Olympe stated. "We 'ave never done such a zing. As far as I'm concerned ze humans so called Ministry 'as done nothing to confirm whezer we are friendly wiz zem or not."

"Well are you?" Harry asked.

"I am speaking wiz you know, correct?" Harry kept his mouth shut. After a few minutes they finally reached the edge of the village. Everything was colossal. Even Ron's tall figure was dwarfed compared to the shortest door or entrance.

"Olympe, there you are with our expected guest," a loud voice boomed from a building. Everyone turned to see a huge face with a beard and black eyes stick out. Hermione guessed that it was about the size of half her body. The face looked at her with a warm, smile and it went back inside. A few seconds later a door opened and out stepped a vast man no shorter than twenty feet. Hermione stood there shocked as he went to go greet Olympe with a hug. "Are these the one's Rubeues was telling us about?"

Olympe nodded. "Yes Hugon, zis is 'arry, 'ermione, and Ron. They brought ze symbol that Merlin mentioned and she is waiting wiz Gigi as we speak."

Hugon smiled and looked down upon Hermione and the guys. "I see, well then lets get this over with. Who will be the one to do the task."

Hermione and Harry looked at Ron, who shrugged. "I guess that would be me." Hugon stretched his hand out to shake Ron's but instead it was like shaking Ron's entire arm. 

"Pleased to meet ya, Ron. Now if you enter the house with me, yer friends can wait out here for you. You won't be needing your arrows there." Ron nodded as he handed his bow and quiver to Harry. Hermione looked at him. Why had Kitrina asked him to do it?

"Don't worry about it, Ron," Harry said. "You can do it."

"Yeah," Hermione said comfortingly. "If Kitrina thinks you can do it then you can."

"Uhh thanks, I guess," Ron said as he followed Hugon inside. "See you later," he said as the door closed behind him.

"What are we going to do know?" Harry asked Olympe.

"We wait until you're friend is finished. Whether you get the item or not is up to him.

"A battle between the mind and the opponent?" Hermione whispered to herself. "One wrong move and it can cost you your men? What did she mean by that clue?" Olympe looked at Harry and Hermione.

"Come, we will wait while we 'ave some tea." She lead them to a house across from Hugon's and knocked on the door. The door opened and another giant's head came out. "Oh hello, Olympe. What can I do for you?"

"Mind if I bring some guest inside for lunch?"

***

Everything inside of Olympe's cottage was very big to accommodate her size and Kitrina took advantage of it. Laying herself down on a comforter, she looked out the window and sighed. Wrapping her fox tale around her brown body, she yawned and closed her eyes. _ Master, we have to get this one. I won't let you down._

After about an hour later, Kitrina was awakened by loud barking form Gigi. She opened an eye to see the small white and brown Crup barking at something in the window. Kitrina stood up and stretched making her way to the large window sill. Sitting herself calmly next to Gigi, Kitrina looked at saw a small white animal looking dead at her. It was a huge rat! Jumping back in shock Kitrina almost fell off the sill but managed to catch herself. She looked again at the window and noticed the rat was gone. She looked at Gigi, who looked straight back at her. She yelped a few times at her and received a bark in returned. Kitrina barked back and listened as Gigi filled her in.

Kitrina's fox eyebrows narrowed. _ I know for a fact that you don't see a rat like that in this forest everyday. What was that thing? _Kitrina sniffed around the window and smelled the scent of the rat. Only to her it didn't smell fully like a wood rat. It had a very weird almost lurking smell to it. One that made Kitrina shutter. She looked out another window that faced the village. _ Ron, please win._

***

"Are you sure you don't want any more, Harry-dear."

Harry covered his mouth as he burped. "No thank you , Ms. Grandas. I think three servings of your soup is fine enough for me."

"Well if you feel that you need more than don't hesitate to ask." Tona Grandas smiled as she sat down across from Olympe. "Knowinh Hugon, your friend should be done by know." Hermione looked at the clock above the stove. It had been almost an hour and a half since Ron had left with Hugon. And in all that time, Hermione was still trying to figure out what Kitrina meant with the clue. She had ask Grandas and Olympe but they refused to say anything.

All of a sudden, the door swung open and in stepped Hugon with a bug smile on his face. Everyone looked at him with a hopeful look. Hugon stepped to the side to reveal a normal looking Ron. "Well?" Harry asked him with suspense in his voice.

"Well what?" Ron asked them with a shrug.

Hermione looked at him with an enraged look. "Well nothing?! Did you get it or not?"

"Well, "Ron paused and looked at his companions. "What do you call this?" Ron held up a small pendant attached to a string. Hermione smiled and jumped up to hug him, giving Ron a very pink face. 

"You did it!" Harry shook his head.

"So what was your task?"

Ron smiled. "You won't believe this but that little pup was right. I was the right person for the job."

"So what was it?" Hermione asked, letting go of him.

"Oh about three games of Wizard's Chess."

Hermione and Harry looked at him. "Wizard's Chess?"

"My favorite game in the whole wide world," Hugon said. 

"He's a master at the game," Olympe said. "Never been beaten."

"Well Ron is the better chess player of us both," Harry said to Hermione, who nodded.

"And Ron is rarely beaten," a voice said from the window. Everyone turned to see Kitrina sitting on the large window sill with a large smile on her face. She hoped down and looked at the pendant in Ron's hand. "It's Master's multiplying pendant."

"Multiplying pendant?" Hermione asked.

Kitrina nodded. "Yep, it enables the bearer to use more than one spell at one time. Without pointing his wand even." Ron eyed the pendant with interest. Kitrina noticed and smiled at him clevery. "Unfortunately the downside to this talisman is that it takes a wizard of immense strength to work it. More in ways of an adult wizard." Ron frowned.

"I win against a champion and you have to ruin it."

Kitrina laughed. "Just protect it, buddy, and everything will be okay." 

Hermione shook her head and looked at the clock. It read three o'clock. "We should be going know," she said.

Harry looked and saw the time. "Yeah we should. Here, Ron." He tossed Ron his quiver and bows. Ron shouldered them and hung the pendant around his neck, under his robes. Hermione grabbed the backpack filled with everything they need and put it on. All three of them turned and shook hands with all three of the giants. "Thank you for everything," Hermione said with Harry and Ron nodding there thanks too.

"Your welcome," Hugon said. "I'm, glad it's kids like you who are collecting the items. You seem capable of handling yourselves. Keep that pendant safe son," he said to Ron, "and don't forget to comeback for a rematch."

Ron smiled. "Sure, as long as you don't mind getting beaten again."

"Bye." Kitrina said as they headed out the door and back towards the forest.

"So that's what you meant by a battle between the mind and the opponent," Hermione said to Kitrina as they entered the forest. 

"And one wrong move can make you loose all your men," Harry said. 

Kitrina nodded and smiled. She was back in her fox form and was hanging on Harry's shoulder.

"Was it very difficult to beat Hugon, Ron?" Hermione asked.

Ron debated between a shrug and a hand gesture. "Well it started off with me matching off with his two sons. They're good but it only took me a good fifteen minutes with each of them. Hugon was the better one and he took a good hour and five to beat."

Hermione smiled. "Well I'm glad it was you than me. You're really good at chess."

Ron smiled triumphantly. "Well if you lay off the studying maybe I can teach you."

Hermione frowned. "You know I bet you could make better marks if you only took the time to study."

"Please-"

"Well you could!"

"I'm doing fine on my own thank you."

"Listen if you-"

Ron covered his ears. "I can't hear you!"

Hermione growled. "Why you-!"

Harry and Kitrina watched from the side as their two friends fought.

"Think those two will ever stop?" Harry asked Kitrina. The fox yawned in response and laid her head on his chest. Harry nodded. "I agree."

A few hours later the quartet found themselves halfway there. Hermione and Ron had finished their argument and were now walking with Harry between them. Kitrina was one the ground trotting in front when all of a sudden she noticed something.

"Kitrina?" Hermione said quietly. That's when Hermione saw a long pink tail disappear into the brush. A few seconds later, Kitrina's ears started to move rapidly back and forth. Ron also paused and listened. Loud squawking could be heard from above and finally a large swarm of black birds came into view.

"Everyone down!" Ron yelled as the swarm came closer. Hermione ducked immediately and watched as the swarm flew over head. All of a sudden she heard a whoosh sound pass by her and saw tiny black feathers land on the ground. She looked overhead and saw the birds circle around the group and continue to fire their feathers. Kitrina was trying her best to avoid being hit and ducked under a bush. 

Ron and Harry were near her when a larger bird came flying by. "Hermione, look out!" Harry said. Ron, who was closer to her, shoved her down as the large black dart hit the ground with alarming speed. "Stay down," Ron said to her.

"What are they?"

Ron's eyes narrowed. "They're dart birds. Something must have disturbed their nest and they came after is instead." After a few more minutes the birds finally fled off leaving the group behind. Everyone stood up dusting themselves off. "Was anyone hit?" Ron asked.

"I don't think so," Harry said. Hermione and Kitrina shook their heads.

"Good then lets go before they come back."

About an hour later they were right in front of the Forbidden Forest edge. Hermione was grateful that they were back at Hogsmeade and with an item. She wanted a nice warm bath and some dinner. Ron seemed glad too and wiped the sweat off his brow. "It's good to be home after this long day," he said. "Isn't that right, Harry?" Ron turned to his friend. "Harry?"

Hermione looked and saw as Harry leaned over breathing heavily. His face was red and he was dripping sweat. "Harry, what's the matter?" she asked him frantically. Harry looked over at them.

"Guys, I-," He dubbed over in unconsciousness. Ron caught him before he reached the ground.

"Harry?!"

"Harry?!"

************************************************************************************************

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO, a cliffhanger! I just love cliff hangers, don't you? (Author tries to ignore all the large rocks that are being thrown at her) Yeesh, don't kill me okay. First off I'm sorry for taking so long but yet against he problem is school related and I only have three more weeks till it's all over. (Author is know doing a victory dance). 

Now I will take the time to thank:

erika, Bored Sick Little Genius, shadowcat, Mizzy-Izumi, Adnap Nottap, serinity, and Lee Velviet.

For those of you who are wondering what a Crup and a Tebos is, well I got these things from J.K. Rowling's charity book  Fantastic Beast and Where To Find Them. It's really interesting so I suggest you read.

As for my usual shameless promoting, I just want to say that I have a new fic out called  Saint RedTail, which is a parody fic between Harry Potter and my favorite anime, Saint Tail. It's a Ginny x Harry fic.

Ummmmm, let's see  Fred, George, Lee and Love is a good fic to read. 

That's really all for now.

Adios,

Gemin16


	7. Chapter 7: A Journey for Hope

Storybook Crisis

By: Gemin16 

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or characters and themes. Everything else belongs to me. Thank you.

Chapter 7: A Journey for Hope

AN: I apologize for taking so long but I was moving and its hard to keep up with your computer and the first draft of this chapter some how got deleted so I apologize a million times and hopefully the next chapter will get out a lot quicker than this one.

A quick thanks to all who reviewed and for an answer to Pierrot's review, I didn't really realize it till I started writing and read your review. I got the idea cause Hermione's always sticking her head inside of books.

***********************************************************************************************

"What's wrong with him?" Hermione asked as she stood next to Harry's bed. He was lying there unconscious, his was brow covered with sweat and his face expression painful. Hermione and the others were standing inside St. Mungo's with the head healer, Madam Pomfrey, looking over Harry.

"He's been infected by poison," Madam Pomfrey said checking up on him. "I found this in the examination." She held up a long thin black feather. "It's infecting his body and mind as we speak."

Ron, who was standing next to Hermione, cursed under his breath. "He was hit by a dart bird, should've shot them away." His fist started to ball up. 

"It wasn't your fault, Ron," Remus said, who looked like a nervous wreck. "By your story, there were to many for you to handle with magic or your bow."

"What will happen to Harry?"

Sirius sat next to Harry's side and looked up at Hermione with a look of worry. "If we don't find the antidote, then he'll die within the week." 

"What's the antidote?"

"It's found within the front wing feather of a dart bird," Madam Pomfrey told her.

Hermione looked at Lupin, Sirius, and then Ron, all carried a grim look at the mention of the antidote. "Isn't there any within this hospital?" 

Ron shook his head, a dead serious look on his face. "It isn't as easy as it seems, Hermione. The antivenin can only be found within the same bird that shot its victim. Each venom is different for each bird, meaning each antidote is different." Hermione's heart sank. Only one bird out of all those that attacked them. Tears came to her eyes. Was she going to loose one of the only best friends that she had?

Ron saw the tears and turned away. Harry was his best friend too and there was no way in hell that he was going to loose him. "Let me see that feather, Madam Pomfrey." He took the feather from her and looked it over. It would be impossible for them to find it in time. There had to be a way to save him!

"I'll be right back," Madam Pomfrey said turning away and leaving the room. "Come and get me right away if his condition changes."

"Right," Sirius said as he bent his head down. "You can't die on us Harry, we need you."

The situation looked real bad for them. Everyone stood silent with Hermione's occasional sniffs filled up the room with sound.

A knock came at the door and a healer's head came through. "Madam Pomfrey wishes to speak with you both," she said gesturing to Remus and Sirius. They both stood up and left leaving Ron and Hermione alone.

"Ron is there any way we can find the bird?" Hermione asked him; an almost pleading sound came from her voice.

He shook his head biting his lip. "It's not possible to find it within the time limit we have. The Forbidden Forest is just too large for us to even stand a chance. Not even a magic spell could work because of the mist pockets." Ron sighed as he looked at Harry. It just wasn't fair, there had to be a way for them to save him. A knocking at the window disturbed Ron's line of concentration. It was Kitrina in her fox form. She gave Hermione and Ron a questioning look.

"The coast is clear so I'll let her in," Hermione said carefully sliding the window open and let the small animal jump in. Kitrina transformed herself into her human form and went to Harry's bed. 

"How is he?" she asked with a concerned voice.

"Not very good," Hermione said. "The poison from the Dart Bird feather is infecting him."

Kitrina shook her head. "That's not good and the antidote is hard to find." She crossed her arms. "There has to be some way to help Harry!" she said loudly as her fox ears and tail stuck out again. After a second she sighed in frustration and slumped to the floor, her ears falling back and forth, eyes starting to water. A tear slid down her cheek and landed on her hand. After a few more fell, her eyes opened wide and she smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" Ron asked. How could she smile at a time like this?

Then she clapped her hands in excitement starling Ron and Hermione. "I bet my fur that-"

All of a sudden the door opened again, surprising all three of them. Ron went straight for Kitrina and shoved her behind him with Hermione standing right beside of him to cover her up. Sirius and Remus walked in and looked at the two. Ron could feel Kitrina changing to her fox form and dangling from his hands. He gave them a weak look.

"Is something wrong?" Remus asked.

"N-no," Hermione said. Ron nodded his head slowly. Remus and Sirius looked liked they bought it.

"You two should head on home," Sirius said. "It will be late soon."

Hermione nodded. "Ri-"

"OUCH!" Ron yelled as he swung his hands from behind his back and looked at his hand. Hermione looked behind her as Kitrina hit the floor and breathed heavily. 

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"That stupid little thing bit me!" Ron said angrily not realizing what he said. Hermione looked and saw bite marks on Ron's hand from Kitrina's sharp teeth.

"What thing?" Remus asked Ron, clearly confused.

"It's your fault, you know! You were suffocating me!" Kitrina poked her way through Ron and Hermione, after she changed forms, to get a good look at them. 

"Yeah but you didn't have to bite me!"

"It's not like I had a choice. I can't talk while I'm in that state." Kitrina crossed her arms with a growl and looked forward only to see a very confused Sirius and Lupin. Once she realized what happened she gave a yelp and her fox ears and tail popped out.

"What is that thing?" Sirius asked. Kitrina just stood still with fright. Hermione didn't exactly know what to say either. _The cat's out of the bag now_, she thought to herself.

"She's just a friend of ours," Ron said.

"What kind of friend has ears and a tail?" Sirius questioned him. Ron pondered for a second. 

"Umm a strange friend."

Kitrina shot him a dirty look. "Who are you calling strange, Arrow-boy?" Ron quickly shot her a "shut-up or we're in deep trouble" look. Unfortunately for the trio, Sirius and Remus didn't seem to buy it.

"Ron, Hermione, please explain," Remus asked them. Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

"I guess they deserve to know," Hermione said. "It'll at least explain why Harry's in his state." Ron nodded and looked at the two adults. He then looked at Kitrina, who nodded.

"What we're about to tell you, you have to promise to keep it between us."

"So you're telling me that this item was made by Merlin?" Remus said holding up Ron's pendant from earlier. It took a while but Ron and Hermione told the entire story to the both of them with Kitrina adding in a few details.

"You-Know-Who already has one of the items," Ron told him.

"And the others are out there somewhere," Sirius said. He looked at Harry and crossed his arms. "Then it was probably no accident that you were attacked by that flock. Someone must have disturbed them and made sure you were in the path during the attack. With Voldemort on you're tail, things are a lot more dangerous. I'm glad you told us."

Hermione smiled to herself. It felt better with an adult knowing about it. Sirius continued. "Now that we know this, we still have to find a way to save Harry."

"Actually," Kitrina said, "I think we have a way." All four of them looked at her. Hermione looked at Kitrina with her staring back.

"How?" Hermione asked.

Kitrina smiled as she held herself proudly. "Even though I haven't regained full memory of what Master did with the items, I do have a clue as to what they are. Each item has a special ability or power that makes it special."

"And what are you getting at?" Sirius questioned.

Kitrina beamed but looked at Ron. "There's a settlement full of fairies and pixies in the forest, right?"

Ron nodded. "Rumor has it that they live towards a grove of trees by the where the river runs east. Never traveled in that area before though so I can't guarantee anything."

"Kitrina, please tell us you have an idea?" Remus said.

She looked at Remus with a thoughtful expression. "Remember how I said the pixies have an item to guard along with the fairies? Well, I think that they just might have the item we need right now. What Ron said may only be a hunch but I think that I can find that settlement."

"And what item would that be?"

"It's a special gourd that when filed with water, will turn the liquid into an instant cure to all diseases, ailments, poisons, and can even retrieve those on the verge of death. I'm almost sure that the pixies and fairies are guarding it."

The overall feeling in the room changed suddenly, everyone gaining a new sense of hope, well except for Kitrina.. Hermione had tears poring from her face as she hugged Kitrina. "Kitrina that's wonderful. Then that means we can save Harry for sure!"

"I'll definitely leave tomorrow morning to go find it," Ron said smiling. "Kitrina you're going to come, right? You're the only one who can find it if I can't." Kitrina nodded through what little space Hermione's arms were giving her. She was being squeezed so hard she was finding it difficult to produce any words.

"I'm going too," Hermione said letting go of Kitrina, who slumped to the floor. Ron looked at her.

"It's better if I go alone with Kitrina."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm coming whether you like it or not. What happens if something happens to you out there? You'll be to absorbed in looking for that item to watch you're own back. Don't forget that I was also asked to help on this journey to gather them too."

"Hermione, I'm telling you, I can take care of myself. I'll be fine besides don't they just want one person to do the task?"

Hermione went up to him and poked him in his chest. "I'm coming whether you like it or not, so you don't really have a choice in it!" Ron looked at her with amazement. She had never been that pushy before.

Kitrina smiled to herself. _I wonder... _She held up her hands in defense. "Maybe it would be for the better if she did come, Ron." Hermione looked at Kitrina and smiled. Ron crossed his arms and looked the other way. Kitrina nodded. "Then it's settled, tomorrow we leave in the morning to find the item." She stretched her arms. "Master knows I need my sleep so I'll be leaving now." She changed into her fox form and trotted out through the door. 

"She very lighthearted," Remus stated watching her.

"A weird one that thing is," Sirius said. "Are you sure you can trust her?"

"She's our one good hope," Hermione said. "She's trust worthy and just as determined to find those items and to save Harry as we are."

"She's right," Ron said. "Listen, we'll find that gourd and Harry's going to be all right."

***

It had been a while since Kalvin had heard anything from his employer, Nott. Not that it bothered him. When Nott needed him, he would contact him.

Sitting underneath an oak tree at the central part of the park, situated in the middle of Hogsmeade, Kalvin sighed as he watched people go by. Besides his duty as a mercenary, he really had no other job. His parents had left him a considerable inheritance after their passing and his earnings in his jobs help keep him and Lady content. On days like this where he had nothing, Kalvin enjoyed sitting around and reading, another passion of his. He would have never admitted it but he did enjoy reading about history and learning new things. Although he didn't think it was right to show it. He didn't feel the need to have friends nor wanted any. They would just get in his way. The only friends he had were those in the books that he read as a young boy and he was satisfied with just that. No one had ever really taken the time to get to know the Kalvin as a boy and he always felt the need to be withdrawn from society. Why should he bother? Mercenaries couldn't afford to have friends. Besides who would care about him? 

It was at this very moment that Kitrina was trotting through the trees in the park. She liked taking walks in her fox form and did it whenever time granted her permission. She was bouncing along the side of the path when she noticed a lone figure sitting underneath a tree. Now being the bouncy, cheerful, little person she was inside, she let her curiosity get the best of her and decided to investigate. It was a beautiful evening for watching the sunset and maybe this person deserved someone to watch it with. Climbing up the nearest tree, she carefully hopped from branch to branch until she was directly over the young man.

_He's kind of cute_, Kitrina thought to herself with a smile. She jumped down from the top and landed with a soft thump on the ground. She slowly advanced toward the young man and wigged her ears forward, to get his attention. She noticed him glance toward her but he went back to his book after a second. Slightly annoyed at the fact that the guy wasn't looking at her, Kitrina advanced more and went to go sit herself right next to him.

Kalvin had to admit that he was surprised to see the brown fox show up next to him although he didn't show it. He figured that it was she and watched from the corner of his eye as the little vixen settled herself next to him. She had shiny brown fur that traveled smoothly down her back and to the tip of her tale and she was looking at Kalvin with the most warm black eyes that he'd had ever seen. Her ears wiggled back and forth as she looked from him to the book that he was reading and her eyes were following the lines as if she was actually reading them. Kalvin felt a smile tugging at his lips but he didn't let it pass as he went back to his reading.

The pair sat there reading until Kitrina finally got tired of leaning over and just decided to settle herself into Kalvin's lap. Seeing that he didn't seem to mind or care she leaned her head onto his arm and closed her eyes. A nice warm lap to sleep on was a nice idea; she would need all the rest she could get for her journey tomorrow. She thought the guy seemed nice enough and trusted him to be the perfect spot for a nap zone.

Kalvin watched as Kitrina fell asleep and wondered why she was there in his lap. He really didn't mind having her there, she was nice company and he'd never had any like that before. As he read, he gently rubbed one of Kitrina's ears enjoying every minute of her company.

It was almost daybreak when Kalvin decided it was time for him to head on home. He softly lifted Kitrina's body of his lap and settled her next to him. He smiled as she opened up her eyes lazily and yawned. "Thank you for your company," he said as he gave her an affectionate rub on her head. "It's almost dark so I suggest that you head on to where you belong. Any creature as docile as you even has a home and someone who obviously cares for you." At the mention of that, Kitrina noted that his eyes went cold. "I'll see you around little one." Kitrina watched as Kalvin walked away leaving her there.

_He seems really lonely,_ she thought sadly. Then she thought at what he said about someone caring about her._ Hermione, yes, Harry, yes, Ron…_.. Kitrina snorted as she climbed up the tree_………we'll I'm sure if it wasn't for the fact that I know how to get the items, he'd use me for target practice. _

***

"Do you have any idea where you're going, fox? I thought I was leading this mission?"

"Ron."

"I'm serious, Hermione.

"I thought you said that you've never traveled in this area?"

"Well neither has she!"

"But she can sense where the items are, just let her lead the way."

Ron growled inwardly as he heard a snickering sound from Kitrina, who was in her fox form. It was a cold morning as they walked through the forbidden forest, Hermione armed with her wand and whit, Ron with his bow and quiver (and his wand), and Kitrina with her teeth and wand (which was hidden somewhere) With the good lucks from Sirius and Remus and the fate of Harry resting on their shoulders, the trio had made their way through the forest mostly in silence, each thinking their own thoughts. 

After traveling for almost two hours, Kitrina finally reached a tree that was bent so that the top hit the ground with all of its branches, making a half-circle with its trunk. She scratched and sniffed it, finally disappearing underneath the small space made by the tree's body.

"Kitrina?" Hermione said quietly, looking over at Ron, who just shrugged. A sudden yelp came from the tree causing both teenagers to jump in surprise. A second later they were at the entrance, which was no more than a foot high.

"Kitrina?" Ron said, worry etched on his face. "Think we should go in there?" he asked Hermione in a whisper.

She nodded, though hesitant. "She might be in trouble."

Ron bit his bottom lip. "Let me go first, just in case something did happen. If you hear me shout 'run' get your butt out of here. Okay?"

Hermione nodded, worried about what he was going to do. "Be careful," she said. 

He winked at her. "I'll be fine." Taking his quiver off, Ron laid on the ground and slowly crawled inside putting his weapon in front of him A few seconds later, his whole body was gone inside the trunk. A few seconds later she heard a faint sound that sounded like a yell, but she couldn't make it out.

"Ron?" she said worriedly. "Ron?" She heard nothing else. Ignoring what Ron had told her, she crawled into the space and looked inside. It was so dark that she couldn't see her own hand in front of her face. After crawling in all the way she went further into the endless cave. Her heartbeat went faster as she continued wondering what happened until she felt a sudden crumble beneath her and then the front half of Hermione's body fell downwards with the rest of her following. Closing her eyes tight, Hermione screamed as she fell down into the abyss.

What was only a few seconds but felt like an eternity, Hermione landed on something hard but yet soft enough to break the impact of her fall. Feeling her hands grabbed at a soft fabric, Hermione opened her eyes slowly, realizing that she wasn't dead. She in fact realized that she was in a vague place full of soft giggling noises and that she had landed in a soft, thick bed of clover. But, she thought to herself, if she was in a clover patch, what was the hard thing she was laying on?

"Oi, Hermione, do you mind getting off?"

Hermione's eyes opened fully as she looked down to see Ron's face underneath hers. It only took her a second to grasp the fact hat she was lying on top of Ron's chest and that the distance between their faces was less than an inch apart. The giggling noise increased as Hermione, who was a deadly shade of red embarrassment, quickly got off of Ron and sat there in the clover patch. Ron slowly sat up, cracking his back and neck, and rubbing his head as he looked around. "Where are we anyways," he asked Hermione. 

"I'm not sure." 

All of a sudden the giggling increase rapidly. Pushing Hermione behind him, Ron quickly grabbed his wand from his quiver and pointed at the direction of the light. It was a dim, but they could tell they were in some sort of cave, the glowing reflecting off the walls. "Whose there?" he demanded. The giggling didn't stop.

Just then Kitrina's human head popped out from nowhere, nearly giving Ron a heart attack. "They can't speak human words, Ron," she said fixing her lopsided ponytail.

"Whose they?" Ron asked.

"The fairies and pixies," Hermione said, watching as one of them came fluttering down form the walls. It was four inches in height and had long blond hair let loose. It's wings sprouted in a magnificent green aurora as it crossed its arms. Hermione stared in awe as the fairy flew up and looked at her and Ron in the face. Another creature flew down and stood on Kitrina's head, it was a loud shade of blue and was squealing to Kitrina, who nodded her head.

The fairy (who looked like a female) spun around and talked to Kitrina in another set of high-pitched tones. After one extremely loud pitch, every other pixie and fairy began to giggle with delight (or what seemed like it). Kitrina had to bite her lip to stifle a giggle.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked.

"The leader of the fairies, Levira, says that the spot of dirt on your nose makes you look like a weasel." Hermione turned and saw the smudge of dirt and started to laugh, he did look funny. Wiping the dirt from his nose, Ron shot her and Kitrina a dirty look.

"Do they have the item? Yes or no?"" he demanded.

Kitrina smiled. "Oh they have it all right," she said. "It's beyond this cave and lying at the top of a tree. But it's a hard task."

"What's so hard about that?" Hermione asked. She heard the pixie on top of Kitrina say something in its high-pitched language. Kitrina nodded and looked at Hermione and Ron severely. The giggling had stopped all together.

"Pixies are tricksters and fairies are the guardians of these parts. The journey to that tree is dangerous and it'll the take the both of you get that guard. Levira and Anim tell me that you have their permission to leave the cave and pursue the item. They believe that the both of you can make it although your chances are rough. The way there is full of dangers. Who knows what's stopping you. They won't tell me."

Hermione gulped but tightened her grip on her wand. They had to do this to save Harry and to save this world from Voldemort. She looked at Ron, who looked serious. He nodded at her and then turned to Kitrina. "Show us the way out so we can get that gourd to Harry."

Kitrina smiled, but it was light. "Come this way." As they walked further into the cave, it became lighter with the illumination of the sun's rays and from the color of the fairies and pixies. Each one looked at the two humans. A few let a giggles, others shrieks and cries, and a few even flew around them making motions with their bodies. Hermione wondered what they were doing.

Kitrina noticed what Hermione was looking at. "They're wishing you luck," she said.

"Really?"

"Well actually a majority of them are. Some are saying it'll take just five minutes and you'll be dragon's bait. Don't worry. You two have good heads on your shoulders. You'll make it back." They reached the end of the cave, which revealed a beautiful forest of trees, with flowers all over the place. Kitrina nodded and looked at Ron and Hermione. "This is where we depart. I'll be waiting for you when you're done. Good luck."

Hermione and Ron stepped out into the forest and looked at each other. "Wed best get going if we want to make it back in time to save Harry," Ron said as he started walking. Hermione followed him, wondering what dangers could lie in a forest this beautiful.

She sighed to herself as they walked, deciding to take a look at Ron, who was slightly ahead of her with his bow held loosely in his hands. He was a good head taller than her and had a lean and well built body, which showed in his arms. His flaming hair brightened in the sunlight and his blue eyes looked focused as they walked. He looked remarkably dashing and handsome with his bow and arrows shouldered like he did. Hermione shook her head and turned a light pink color. Did she just say that Ron was handsome? She looked at him again and then quickly looked away. Yes, she did and he was.

She thought about all the times they spent together. He showed her a lot of things and had even protected her at times. Hermione turned redder when she thought about the time that Ron had shielded her from the smoke at Gringotts and-

"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked interrupting her thoughts. He had noticed her turning red all of a sudden.

"N-nothing," she said. She had never felt this feeling with the opposite sex before.

Ron shrugged, thinking that she was just hot from the sun's rays. He looked around noticing that the tree foliage was getting thicker. He popped his hand out in front of Hermione. "What is it?" she asked.

"Something doesn't feel right. Like that feeling you get when something's about to happen." He stepped out further underneath a dark shadow of a tree. He walked further out with Hermione following him. That's when she noticed that the tree's shadow was very different from the tree.

"Ron," she said suddenly.

"What?" He stepped out more into the shadows. "Is something the ma-" he never got to finish his sentence. Stepping on the edge of a crevice he slipped and fell into the abnormal shadow that Hermione had noticed.

"Ron!" Hermione ran over to it and looked down. It was very dark as to the tree's shadows hid the light of the sun. "Ron! Answer me!"

"I'm caught in some sort of jumble of vines! It's trying to strangle me!"

"What kind of plant is it?"

"I can't see! It's too damn dark!"

Hermione bit her lip and pulled out her wand. "Oh my, _Lumos!_" Her wand lit up to show Ron wrapped around in a thick plant made out of vines. Hermione recognized the plant. "Ron! Don't thrash so much, it's Devil's Snare."

"Well I'm finding it hard to when the things chocking me to death! Get me out of here!"

Hermione muttered to herself. "What was it that I heard form McGonagall? "Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare, bunches of fun, hides where-oooo what was it?!"

"Hermione!" Ron called the plant trying to ring his neck.

"There's no sun! I need fire, but I can't just burn down a tree that'll set the whole forest on fire."

"You're a witch!"

Hermione's blinked. "That's right," she told herself. She pointed her wand at the plant far away from where Ron was. "_Pyrois_." A blue flame came form her wand and hit the plant. Ron felt the vines fall from him and let him go down easily, along with his weapons. As the plant shriveled from the heart, Hermione found a vine and lowered it down using a spell to bring Ron back up. Once he was safely above ground he looked at Hermione.

"Aren't you glad that I've come know?" she asked with a smile.

Ron narrowed his eyes and mumbled something about taking to long. Hermione rolled her eyes, just glad that he was okay. He continued walking this time paying attention where he stepped. "Thanks."

"Your welcome." They continued watching as shadow thinned out revealing a trail running down a barricade of tall bushes blocking trees. 

"Why does this look extremely suspicious?" Ron asked standing in front looking at the path.

"That's because we know what might happen to us," Hermione said. She watched as a sudden mist came about. "Oh no."

"Damn mist," Ron muttered as it grew thicker.

"Can we wait it out?" Hermione asked.

"No, a pocket can last for hours or even days. And time is not on our side." His grip tightened around his bow. "The sooner we head out the better." He stepped out slowly, looking for anything that might be hiding in the trees or the bushes. Nothing happened. "Stay close to me," Ron said quietly to Hermione, who nodded. 

Quietly they strolled through the path, aware of all that happened. Besides their silent steps, nothing else stirred or moved. No wind was present to blow the trees or any birds to sing a song. It was like the mist brought about death, making everything silent and motionless. Hermione didn't like the feeling the mist gave off. It felt cold and empty as her and Ron traveled.

Suddenly a loud thump and a jangle came from out of nowhere. Ron quickly took an arrow from his quiver and his bow went up searching for movement. "What was that?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Don't know, sounded like an animal of some sort, the thump anyways. I have no clue what the jangle is."

A sudden rush came at them. A large bird, black in plumage came flying at them it's tail feathers pointed directly at them. Ron wasted no time and shot his arrow, striking it down. Looking at the ground, Ron saw it. "A dart bird," he mumbled angrily. Looking around he drew another arrow. 

"If there were any more than they would have come out by now," Hermione said to herself. "Stupid mist. It's going to get us killed."

Ron looked around, using all the skills he was taught to listen for anything else. He heard nothing. "It must of been trapped here for a trap."

"Pixies and fairies don't contain strong magic," Hermione said out loud. "So from what I've seen, they use animals and plants for traps."

"So what will pop out next?" Ron asked as they continued their walk. A long branch layed out in the path, it was long and tick and belong to what looked like a willow tree. Ron kicked a rock towards it, sticking the branch. It moved and slithered away from the path. "A Whomping Willow, " he said, watching as the branch moved to another spot. "Be careful, Hermione, those things don't like being hit." 

"Ron!" He spun around only to see the large branch come flying towards them. In an instant he grabbed Hermione and threw themselves on the ground missing the willow branch by only centimeters. He kept them low as the branch swung around. He looked at Hermione who was watching the branch swing around. The mist was still heavily set in. "Damn," he muttered.

"We have to distract it," Hermione said thinking of a plan. She looked at Ron. "We have to distract it somehow so we can get out of here. Can you shoot from this low of a level?"

Ron caught on to what she was saying. He winked at her. "Give me a bow and arrow and I can hit anything," he said taking hold of his bow. Picking up an arrow from the ground he slid it into place. "One distraction, coming up." He quickly kneeled to one knee and shot the arrow up into the air. He and Hermione watched as it went strait up and fell falling into the top of the Whomping Willow.

Quivering with rage form being hit again, the willow swung its branches even further up hoping to find whoever had hit it. Seeing their chance, Ron and Hermione dashed forward away from the tree. A branch swung towards them but Ron quickly shot an arrow at it making it go the other way. Not caring about anything else popping out at them, they ran straight across the path. Getting as far away as they could. Once they reached the end, they stopped catching their breath. Out on the middle of the path the Whomping Willow stood there thrashing about.

"Looks like we made it," Hermione said, smiling.

"Come on lets go, I don't want to stay here long if this forest is full of willows," Ron said as he and Hermione turned to go the rest of the way. Little did they realize that the Whomping Willow set off a chain reaction, causing more along the path to move about in anger of being hit by their brother. O.O

"I have the feeling that we're not home yet," Ron said. "The fox said that the gourd is in a tree right? Well what kind of tree would it be in? This whole forest is covered in trees! She couldn't she have been more specific?" He made a fist and grunted.

Hermione sighed as she dusted off her cloak. "Getting angry at Kitrina isn't going to get us there any faster. We're following a path right?" She asked Ron.

He nodded not seeing where she was going. "Yeah. So?"

"Then it's logical that it would lie at the end of the path."

Ron turned his head away in not wanting to admit that she was right. They continued walking paying attention to what they saw. The mist never gave up. It was after thirty minutes of walking down the same path that they came to a fork in the path. Ahead of them it was dense from the mist except for the forms of three large trees standing in the middle of a field, each on it's own little island in the middle of a lake.

"So far so good," Ron said scratching the back of his head.

"A phulk," Hermione said.

Ron looked at her. "A wha-?"

"It's a phulk that we made it this far," she said looking ahead. 

"How?"

"Even though they contain weak magic, the fairies and pixies could of set traps everywhere using what magical strength they had. But when a mist pocket appears, all magical spells and incantations are cancelled out and therefore won't work. That's the only reason we've made it this far without that much trouble." She looked up at Ron. "I bet that one of those trees contains the gourd but which one?"

"I say we just go to each tree and check but something tells me I'd be wrong to do that. It would be way to easy."

Hermione nodded. "Right, the trees look exactly the same but I bet that two of them are something dangerous like that Whomping Willow back there. In fact I bet that two of them are Whomping Willows in disguise, but we wouldn't know unless we were to go directly to them and check but look." She pointed to the two ropes connected to a branch on each tree. "Those ropes hold the bridge together. So if we were to enter on the wrong one the ropes would be pulled breaking the bridge between here and the island, leaving us without the use of magic to the wrath of the willow. Unless- Ron throw a rock into the river."

Ron did as he was told and they watched as a large fin swim to the top and quickly disappeared. Hermione paled and looked at Ron, who tossed another in this time with a piece of bread from his pocket attached. Less than a second later, a swarm of large fishes came and attacked it making Hermione's face even paler.

"Pike," Ron said. "Yeesh, those creatures are smarter than I thought. Looks like we have to make our choice a good one and I think I know what we can do." He drew out his bow and arrow and moved to the edge of the riverbed. 

Hermione watched. The trees were more than fare distance away from them. "Can you hit it from this distance?" she asked him.

Ron shrugged. "I haven't missed yet." He pulled his arrow back and shot at the tree farthest to the left. It hit the trunk straight on causing its branches to lash out in pain breaking the bond with the bridge and letting it fall the water. The pike began attacking it jumping in and out of the water.

"Well that leaves that one out." He took out another arrow and shot the middle tree. The exact same thing happened leaving the one farthest to the left untouched. Taking out another arrow Ron took aim.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not taking any chances," Ron said. "For all we know they could all be Whomping Willows." He let his shaft fly and it hit the tree dead center on the trunk. After a couple of second nothing happened and the two realized that the last tree was the right one. Ron sighed with a smile and looked at Hermione. "Well shall we?"

Hermione stepped on the wood bridge slowly praying that it was stable. It was. "Lets go, I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to." Together they walked across finally reaching the end of their challenge. Ron looked around. "Where is it?"

Hermione pointed up. "It must be there among the foliage. Give me a lift so I can look." Ron cupped his hands as Hermione placed a foot on top and was lifted to the top branch. Grabbing hold of the bottom branch she pulled herself up and climbed so that she was standing between the branches. Hermione looked around, searching for any sign of the precious gourd that contained the only chance of saving their friend. 

After searching through leaves and branches Hermione finally saw what she was looking for. Among one of the top most branches, layed a peach colored gourd lying inside a nest. Hermione smiled with tears in her eyes. "Ron! I've found it!"

A triumphant cry came from the ground as Ron shouted back to her. "Hurry up and get it!" 

Hermione nodded to herself and climbed slowly to the top finally reaching the nest where the item laid. She took hold of it, tears of joy pouring from her face. She was about to ascend down when a noise came from the nest. Hermione turned her head only to see a black bird head pop itself from the tree and snapped at her quickly. It was another Dark bird! Clutching the gourd close to her, Hermione let loose her grip trying to get away and felt herself falling. She let out a loud scream.

Ron saw and heard her. "Hermione!"

Hermione could feel the branches and leaves poke and hit her as she fell. She was waiting for the hard ground to meet her yet again when she felt two arms catch her from her fall. Hermione opened her eyes and looked up meeting Ron's two blue eyes in a deep stare. 

Ron steadied himself as he adjusted the weight in his arms. He stared back at Hermione, who was looking up at him with a wide-eyed expression. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

It took Hermione a second to answer. "I t-think so," she answered. She could feel the warmth of his clothes from him holding her so close and she also noticed that she wasn't that far away from his face either. 

In another tree not so far away Kitrina sat in her minute human form so that she was the same size as the pixie and fairy leaders, Anim and Levira. She was rubbing her ankle from tripping over a rock on a different path as she watched the seen before them. Levira let out a small squeak. Kitrina nodded. "I agree, those two make quite the pair."

Anim made another pitch. Kitrina nodded again and cupped her hands together. 

"COME ON AND A KISS ALREADY!"

Still under the tree, Ron and Hermione were to in dept with their thoughts to hear the small cry from the tree. Knowing that the situation wouldn't go any further, Kitrina jump down from the tree and grew larger. "I can't believe their wasting a perfect time like this," she said to herself. She walked away form the keepers of the forest and walked to the edge of the lake, still covered by the mist.

Hermione and Ron didn't know how long they stood in their position but it wasn't till they heard a cry of joy that they snapped out of their thoughts. Seeing that their bouncy companion was running towards them, a blushing Ron quickly put Hermione, who was in the same state, down not wanting to hear the small creature's comments.

"YOU DID IT!" Kitrina yelled as she jumped into Hermione's arms and gave her a hug. Hermione returned the embrace, showing the gourd afterwards. Kitrina examined it. " That's the gourd master created! Harry's gonna live to see the hookup of the century!"

Ron and Hermione looked at Kitrina. "The what?" Hermione asked.

Kitrina laughed sheepishly. "Oh nothing. Maybe we should get home now."


	8. Chapter 8: Dance of Eyes

Storybook Crisis 

By: Gemin16

Disclaimer: I sadly don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to the wonder goddess J.K. Rowling. However all characters that aren't mentioned in any of her books are mine (i.e. Kitrina, Kalvin, Lady). Thank you. 

P.S. I don't own Shakira either, but I would like to get my hands on some front row tickets. *Grin*

A/N: Well, well, another chapter and another step closer to the end. In all honesty I have no clue when this thing will end (MAWHAHAHAHAHA). I had one reader who commented that they saw a hint of the Neverending Story in this one but to tell ya the truth I've never seen it. Maybe I should take a hint from the title though. Okay, maybe not. And I was joking about not knowing when the story will end. It will eventually end, and boy do I have an ending for you! (More evil laughing). For all of you who are in high school, don't take the essay class! It's evil, pure evil! Okay I'm going to calm down now and put away my sugar stash. (inner me: BUT I LIKE MY GOOBERS!)

I hope most of you enjoy this chapter. It took me a few good weeks and 3 cases Diet Pepsi to come up with it. 

Chapter 8: Dance of Eyes

***********************************************************************************************

"You know, fox, I still can't believe there was an easier way to get out of that cave," Ron said as they crossed the Forbidden Forest. "And you knew about it all this time."

Kitrina snickered from her fox form as she trotted along in front of Ron and Hermione. The group was in a good mood except for Ron's bickering about Kitrina knowing an alternate route into the dwelling of the pixies and fairies. 

"Stop laughing. Mione and me could have seriously gotten hurt." 

Kitrina rolled her eyes.

Ron growled and swiftly took out his bow and arrow. "I think you actually did that to us on purpose!" Kitrina turned around to stick her tongue out at him but was met by an arrow six inches away from the tip of her nose. She yelped and jumped back, looking at Ron with a malicious stare. 

Hermione glared at Ron. "That wasn't very nice, Ron," she scolded.

Ron shouldered his bow. "Little runt deserved it, if you ask me."

**

No more than thirty feet away, Kalvin sat up in a tree collecting eggs for one of his potions. He was always sneaking into the forbidden forest for this and that, ever since he was five. He most likely new it better than anyone else, except for the caretaker, that is. He wasn't afraid of any of the dangers and knew how to protect himself from all the dangers that the forest provided against him. Just like Ron Weasley, he was an expert archer, and rarely missed his target.

That particular morning, he had nothing to do so he decided to leave Lady at home and take a trip into the forest to gather some rare and much needed items for his line of work. As usual he enjoyed the solitude of the task but a random thought roamed around in his head. Ever since the other day, he couldn't get that little fox out of his head. 

It was true, and he almost hated to admit it, but the vixen had made a big imprint on his mind from their first meeting. It was her eyes that stunned him the most. Their deep black color left him lost and confused. Just like lady's hazel eyes. How could something so dark contain so much warmth? It wasn't only her eyes but her facial expression. She didn't seem like any normal fox and he could tell there was something totally unique about her. 

For one of the very few times in his life, Kalvin smiled. It wasn't a sarcastic or wry smile, like usual. It was a true genuine cheerful smile.

**

Also no more than forty feet away from the trio and Kalvin stood another figure with something shorter than him standing right by his side. He shivered as he remembered his master's words. 

Remember Wormtail, it's up to you to spy on them, if they retrieve an item then you must fetch it from them. I WON"T TOLERATE ANY FAILURES!

Wormtail shivered even more as his master's last statement rang through his head. He stared at the subdued werewolf at his side. He smiled weakly. The girl and boy were in front of him, along with that pesky fox. He was so close. If the wolf could chase them away and they would drop the item in their haste. He would succeed! He had too. 

Taking out his wand he pointed it at the serene animal that was under his spell.

**

"Ron, that wasn't very nice of you," Hermione said.

"An eye for an eye. Because she lead us through that hole and down that cliff, I ended up with a bruise the size of a pumpkin on my chest when you la-." He cheeks turned pink at the thought of how that happened but Hermione's cheeks were four times as red as his.

Kitrina sat on a rock, grinning like a Cheshire cat (or more like a fox) at the two. _They are just too cute_, she giggled to herself. 

**_Snap_**_!_

Kitrina stopped, her cheerful expression changing faster than the naked eye could see. Her black eyes wavered around not seeing anything new. She had heard it loud and clear but where was it? Something was coming near them and it was big as well as dangerous. Her ears moved quickly as she tried to figure out where it was coming from and her nose sniffed as she tried to sense what it was. Her eyes opened wide! She knew exactly what it was!

Knowing she didn't have enough time to warn them, she quickly barked and grew to a slightly larger size. Ron and Hermione looked at her wondering what caused her to grow. A low sounding growl caused Ron to look behind him and two large yellow eyes greeted him. He grabbed Hermione and pulled her behind him. The wolf stepped closer, snarling and growling. All of a sudden it leaped and headed straight for him. 

It was instinct that over came his fear. Ron immediately threw himself and Hermione down on the ground, his right shoulder striking against a sharp rock, digging in. He winced in pain but pulled Hermione closer towards him expecting the wolf to pounce upon him and attack. The wolf never got within a foot of them.

The second that Ron threw himself and Hermione down, Kitrina jumped and attacked the wolf head on. Biting and clawing with all the strength, she pushed the wolf back down to the ground and bared sharp fangs at it. But unfortunately for her, she was at her full size limit and she was about half the size of the wolf, giving her a small disadvantage. Of course that didn't stop her. Full animal instinct had taken over and she was ready to kill.

Now angry and provoked, the wolf tossed its paw across Kitrina, throwing her ahead. Catching herself on the ground she ran back and attacked. She aimed at its front foreleg and bit as hard as she could. She tasted the blood in her mouth and felt her opponent grab the back of her head and trying to rip her off his leg. The wolf managed to break her grip and threw her again, making her strike a rock backside.

Ron and Hermione winced as they heard Kitrina's painful yelp. Ron looked and saw the fox trying to stand up, having a difficult time doing so. He cursed at himself for not being able to help. If only he could reach his bow and arrows or his wand, but his wand hand and shooting arm all hurt too much from the injury to his shoulder. Blue eyes watched as Kitrina shot a quick glance at them and immediately went to attack the wolf head on again. 

The vixen's second yelped pulled at Hermione's heart. She couldn't help her friend in any single way, her wand was somewhere inside her robes but she couldn't reach it. Her arms were wrapped around the gourd, protecting it, and her tears fell upon it.

Kitrina winced in more pain, her leg and back were killing her. She had to protect her two friends from the wolf, even if it meant her death. They were the only ones that could protect the world from Voldemort. With only three more items to find and one to recover, they couldn't die. If she died it would be okay, Hagrid and the other animals would vouch for Hermione and the others as the chosen ones. She panted as she stood face to face with the wolf, which was all scratched and cut from their scuffle and it was holding its paw close to its body. Kitrina was sure that it was broken. Of course she was much worse.

The wolf growled again and was ready to pounce again when an arrow flew through the air and landed in the wolf's injured paw. It yelped in pain and jumped back as three more flew and landed next to it. The wolf growled but stepped further back as more arrows came flying, one of them being a fire arrow produced by a spell. Finally succumbing to the army of arrows the wolf turned around and limped away.

Ron and Hermione looked up as they heard the whoosh of the arrows zip through the air. Seeing that the wolf was gone, they sat up, Ron wincing at the pain in his shoulder. Hermione saw the blood through his robe.

"Ron, are you all right?" She went for her wand.

He shrugged it off. "I'm all right. Where the hell did those arrows come from?"

"I don't know." Hermione looked but couldn't see anyone or anything around. A sudden sound interrupted her thoughts. It was low but high pitched, like a squeak. She gasped and looked in front of her. Kitrina stood in front of them, a foxy smile on her face, her eyes warm with happiness. But what shocked Hermione were the numerous injuries on her friend.

Kitrina was bleeding from many spots on her shaking body and her front leg was heavily damage. A large spot were the wolf had bitten her was bleeding from on top of her neck. The fox coughed, blood dripping from her fangs. Hermione honestly couldn't tell if the vixen was shaking from pain or weariness or maybe even both. Both Hermione and Ron sat there silent as they looked at her. Kitrina tried to take a step forward but her pain was too great and she was more exhausted than she thought. Her legs gave way and she fell to the ground. 

Hermione and Ron ran up to her. "Kitrina!" Hermione gently lifted her off the ground; she was as limp as a noodle. Tears came to her eyes. Was she dead? 

But a small rise and fall of Kitrina's chest answered her question. No, but she was close to it if they didn't act fast.

She looked at Ron. "We have to get her back to Hogsmeade now, she'll die if we don't. I don't know any advanced healing spells that can treat her wounds and the gourd doesn't cure physical wounds!"

Ron slipped off his cloak and wrapped it around the vixen's body. "I can't believe she tool on a full grown wolf," he muttered to himself. _Stupid fox. He looked at Hermione. "Do you mind carrying her? I know a shortcut but I need to keep an eye out." He whipped out his wand. "Lets go!" With their friend wrapped up, they ran into the forest towards Hogsmeade._

**

Kalvin watched them run from his tree. He didn't' know that the vixen that Hermione was the same one that he had met yesterday but it was Kitrina's impact on him, that made him save her today. 

He looked at his hands, which held the bow that he used to shoot the arrows. He normally would have let fate take its course and let the wolf kill the fox but his heart told him otherwise. Why? Why did he do it? He was a cold-blooded mercenary; he wasn't supposed to care about others like that. Especially people he didn't like much less know.

Kalvin shook his head and climbed down the tree with everything he had collected and went home.

**

Wormtail cursed loudly as he saw the wolf licking its leg. He had failed again. What would his master do to him now?

***

"Kitrina!" Hermione ran and hugged her friend when she saw that she was alive and well. As soon as her and Ron had reached the castle, they went straight to Remus and Sirius to have them attend Kitrina. After closely examining the vixen's bloody body, Remus said that he would do what he could for her and that she was most likely going to live. As he was doing that, Sirius rushed Ron and Hermione to the hospital to give the magical water of the gourd to Harry. As Kitrina had informed them, the water acted as a cure-all and healed Harry of the pernicious effects of the dart bird's poison and he was recovering quickly.

As soon as they returned to the castle, the first thing that Hermione and Ron went for was the house where Remus, Sirius, and Harry lived. Inside they found Remus wrapping bandages around a human Kitrina who was wincing with every inch of pressure that was put onto her injuries.

"HERMIONE!!!!!!!!! THAT HURTS!!!!"

Hermione quickly let go and let Kitrina fall to the ground. "Owey! Owey! Owey!" she cried out as she looked at Hermione with a pained expression.

"I'm sorry," she said as she wiped the tears away. "I'm just so happy that you're okay."

Ron walked up and stood next to her. "So am I, fox, you really gave us a scare." He gave her a weak smile, which Kitrina understood. Her response was a simple smile.

 "So how's Harry?"

"He'll be just fine," Sirius said. "He's recovering as we speak and should be out of the hospital within a week. If it wasn't for that pushie Madam Pomfrey, he'd be back here tomorrow."

"Told ya, it would work."

Remus smiled as he finished administrating her bandages. "And we didn't doubt you for a moment. You ARE the student of the great Merlin." He shot a quick wink at the other three.

Of course as Remus planned, the statement boosted up Kitrina's demeanor from slightly cheerful to all out happy. Kitrina's fox ears and tail features returned and wiggled back and forth. "Of course and as Master's sole student and loyal companion, I will henceforth protect all the searches of the items. Even if it means my death!"

"We can take care of ourselves you know," Ron said dryly.

"Not that we're not grateful that you protected us from the wolf, Kitrina," Hermione said, giving Ron an evil looked while she hugged her friend more gently. "We're just glad that you're not dead."

Kitrina just winced as she tried to hug Hermione back but her injured arm was killing her. Remus' skills were excellent but she was still soar from all her wounds. It had been a close battle, that it had.

***

A few days later Hermione noticed that everyone was getting into the cheerful mood. People were smiling more and children were getting excited. She had even heard school was being lead out for the next two weeks. Even the people around the castle were slightly more joyful and greeting each other with a gay and merry smile. It was like they were all on prosac.

One day Hermione asked Professor McGonagall about it after one of their lessons.

"Oh you didn't know?"

Hermione shook her head. "Know what, Professor?"

"The city is getting ready to celebrate Yule Festival. Twelve days of festivities that begin in three days on the sunrise."

Hermione blinked. "Yule Festival?"

Professor McGonagall smiled a very rare smile. "It's a wonderful event, Ms. Granger. You'll love it."

For the rest of the day Hermione thought about it. A festival that lasted twelve days? She wondered what someone could do with twelve days of holiday. Of course she asked Kitrina about it while she was in her room.

"Yule Festival," Kitrina said as she layed on Hermione's bed with Crookshanks lying next to her. "It's been a good three to four hundred years since I've been to one, but it's so wonderful you'll just love it. It's filled with-"

Knock Knock Knock 

"Hermione?"

Hermione smiled from the book she was reading. She winked at Kitrina and the girl changed into her fox form and ran under the bed. "Come in, Ginny."

The youngest Weasley came bouncing in carrying the same buoyancy as everyone else. "Are you doing anything important?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I'm studying. Why?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and grabbed Hermione's cloak and reached for her arm. "Don't start with that. Grab all your money and let's go."

"Go where?" Hermione asked.

"Shopping!"

Hermione stopped. "Shopping?"

Ginny's brown orbs did a 360 yet again. "Yes, shopping. Madam Malkin's is having a major sale on festival robes and we need to find decent party clothes."

Hermione sighed. More Yule things. She was starting to get curious and annoyed now. Deciding that she better humor Ginny, she grabbed her savings (which was a lot) and headed out the door with Ginny and Crookshanks following her. 

After she had closed her door, Kitrina popped her head out from under the bed and smiled. _We all need some fun, after all we've been through, she thought to herself. Deciding that she better play on her own agenda, she trotted out the door._

***

Harry sighed as he sat in the hospital bed, only one more day and he would be let free from his prison. He felt much better and was walking fine but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let him leave until she found him perfectly fit. Sure he was a little weak but that was common after being what he went through.

He turned another page in his book and looked out the window. What he wouldn't do to have a visitor. Ron, Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus, Hermione, Malfoy………..no cancel that thought Harry told himself. He wasn't that desperate. Only one more day and he would be out of here. One more day, just one more day…..

Harry slammed his book shut. He could not last one more day that was for sure. Not when there were adventures to explore, items to be found, Quidditch games to be won. How could someone as active as him stay still for so long?

"Knock, knock."

Harry snapped out of his brooding and looked at his window, where sure enough, he had a visitor. It was Kitrina. He sighed, not exactly who he had in mind but she would do. He nodded his head and she opened his window and jumped in.  She smiled as she brought forth from under her cloak a big box with the words "HONEYDUKES" on it.

"Special delivery for one Mr. Harry Potter," she said with a smile, she jumped unto his bed and set the box down right in front of him. Harry just sat there. Kitrina's eyebrows narrowed. "Well don't just sit there, open the box for goodness sake!"

"Thanks, Kitrina," Harry said softly. He opened the box and discovered it full of all the sweets that ever existed. Bertie Bott's beans, Chocolate Frogs, Flavored Pops, Live Gummi Worms, everything that Harry loved from Honeydukes. "You honestly didn't have to do this you know."

Kitrina shrugged it off, wincing in pain. "But I wanted to. Besides sweets help you heal, not that you need it, but you're too skinny anyways."

Harry just laughed as he took out a package of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and handed Kitrina a chocolate frog. She accepted it with a heavily bandaged arm. Harry looked at her. Besides her arm, her face contained a few bandages on it and he suspected that under her robes, there was a couple more. He had heard all the details from Ron about the vixen's battle with the wolf. "Shouldn't you be in bed too? You look like you're still healing."

Kitrina took a big bite out of the frog and looked at her card. "I already have three of these," she mumbled. She looked at Harry, "Well yeah, I may be healing but I can't sit still. Remus made me stay inside for two whole days before I was aloud to walk around again. My arm's pretty bad but it's healing slowly. Besides with the Yule Festival coming up, how can I possibly stay still? Only two more big days till it begins!"

~*~

Hermione stood still as she and Ginny were getting fitted for festival robes. "Twelve days of nothing but celebrating? What about work and school?"

Ginny laughed. "Well work is limited to only a few hours a day so only what's necessary at the moment is done, and school is let out for the next two weeks. This is a time for fun and games. Each day is filled with nothing but laughter and everyone is divided up into pairs. But it's the first, middle, and last day that are the best."

~*~

"The first day is always the one I like the best," Kitrina said throwing a gummi worm into the air.

"I don't' know," Harry said. "I still don't like that dance."

Kitrina raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? The Dance of the Eyes is always fun."

~*~

Hermione blinked. "The Dance of Eyes?"

Ginny nodded as they walked the through the streets. "Yep, it's the starting point of the festival. Groups get together and you drink this weird potion. Then standing in a certain formation with boys facing girls, this lady starts to sing a mystical song and you start dancing. The funny thing is that even though you don't know the steps or the tune, you just start dancing and you go into this trance. Once the dance is over, you're looking face to face with your partner. And he will stay with you for the rest of the festival. It's the number one rule for those who participate in the dance. They say that at least one pair that is chosen to be together stays together forever." She sighed. "I wonder if it will be me this year?"

Hermione nodded. A dance that decided your partner? It sounded so weird to her. "So what happens on the sixth day?"

~*~

Kitrina smiled. "And then on the sixth day, it's the Yule Ball." She sighed happily. "It's so romantic."

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's okay, I guess."

~*~

"The Yule Ball," Ginny said as she and Hermione sat at the corner store, eating ice cream. "It's the highlight of the whole festival. Everyone, from young to old celebrates in the middle of the city and they stay up the whole night partying. Couples get closer together and it's just totally romantic."

~*~

"And then the very last day," Kitrina said. "The parade."

Harry smiled. "That's probably my favorite part. They always have the top Quidditch team ahead of the rest."

Kitrina rolled her eyes. "Quidditch freak."

~*~

"So what's in the parade?" Hermione asked as they passed by the park.

"Well it's really just a show off of all the fun things in Hogsmeade. They say that Hogsmeade's festival is the best in the land so people from all over come and watch and help celebrate. So really, it's nothing but a show."

"What happens in between those three events?" Hermione asked.

"Oh all sorts of things," Ginny said.

~*~

"Contest," Kitrina said.

"Quidditch matches," Harry commented.

~*~

"Different shows," Ginny said.

~*~

"Singing." Kitrina's eyes were shinning now.

"Quidditch tournaments," Harry sighed contentedly.

~*~

"Shopping."

~*~

"Romance."

"Quiddi-"

"I GET THE IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kitrina yelled, hitting Harry over the head.

Harry laughed as he rubbed his head. "Sorry," he mumbled.

~*~

Hermione was only half listening to Ginny's ramblings about the Yule festival. With each little detail, she was becoming more and more excited. Twelve days of fun, merry making, and hanging out with friends. 

Hermione smiled. Hanging out with friends. The last time she had ever really hung out was with Amber but that was only at their houses, never in public. She honestly had to say she had never really been to something that sounded as big as the Yule Festival especially with people that she enjoyed being with. Ginny, Harry, Kitrina, 

Ron….

Hermione's cheeks turned a slight pinkish tone. That thought had been completely random.

Or had it?

***

Two big days later, the start of the Yule Festival had begun. At the first drop of Sunlight appeared people ran into the streets and started celebrating, throwing everything from paper, to flower petals, to other people around. Everyone was completely exuberant in their actions. Children were running around with their best play robes on while adults walked around showing off their most fashionable robes and greeting everyone as if they were old friends.

From her window at the top of the tower, Hermione watched, as she got ready for the festival herself. While shopping with Ginny she had found the perfect color robe for the first day and even had other robes to last her out for the other eleven days. She looked at the sets of hair clips, ribbons and bows that she had bought for herself and looked at her hair that she normally kept loose. How would she wear it today? She had never really felt so self-conscious about her hair in such a way. 

Kitrina watched her in her human form from the bed, next to Crookshanks. The vixen smiled. Hermione looked very nice in her new sky blue robe and she had fixed her hair so it wouldn't a normal frizzy but a lovely brown wave of hair using a new hair product that she had bought. Kitrina herself had fixed up a decent looking robe for herself, that of an orange tinge that contrasted nicely with her tan skin tone. Her black curly hair was put up into her normal ponytail and held together with a nice orange ribbon that she had borrowed from Hermione. Since her ears were pierced, she also wore a nice set of hoop earrings that she had bought with some money that she had borrowed from Hermione. And of course, she had a nice scar going along her arm from her battle, although it was hidden well from the long sleeves of her robe.

Kitrina giggled as Hermione sighed holding all of her hair in one hand. "What's so funny?" Hermione asked letting go of her hair.

"You," Kitrina said flatly.

Hermione's eyebrows narrowed and she looked in the mirror once again. What was she going to do? "What, Kitrina?" she asked after she heard the fox-girl make a fake cough that sounded like "let me do it".

"Excuse me?"

Kitrina walked right up to her. "Would you like some help?"

Nodding in defeat Hermione obeyed to Kitrina's sitting gesture and sat still as the vixen did all sorts of things with her hair. Wincing as her hair was tugged and pulled, Hermione wondered what her friend was doing. She watched as Kitrina grabbed a hair tie and winced yet again as her hair was pulled and separated. Kitrina then stepped in front of her and frowned.

"Is it that bad?" Hermione asked.

"No, but something is missing." She grabbed a blue ribbon form the dresser and arranged it around the tie and stepped back to look at her. She then grabbed a thing of lip-gloss and applied just a little to Hermione's lips. "Perfect. What do you think, Crooks?"

The cat looked his owner up and down and nodded with a meow. Hermione stood up and looked in the mirror. Kitrina had done her hair into a wide ponytail that spread over her shoulders. The ribbon in her hair was lopsided but yet it gave a nice accent to her hair. Her eyes were wide with amazement; she had never felt or looked so pretty before. 

Kitrina smiled at Hermione. She just looked so cute looking at herself with shock and amazement. "I would have done it half up, half down but you'll need to have it pulled back for the Dance of the Eyes. It'll get in your way if its let loose."

Hermione smiled. "Oh I don't think I'll be participating in that. I wouldn't know anyone."

"Don't give me any of those silly excuses," Kitrina said with her hands on her hip. "You're going to dance if even if I have to personally push and drag you out there." _Besides you might just get paired up with the man of your dreams, she thought to herself with a foxy smile._

Hermione smiled weakly seeing the sneaky smile and look in her eyes. "Are you going to dance?"

Kitrina's fox ears popped up. "I honestly haven't thought about it. Maybe, maybe not."

Hermione frowned. "I'm not going out there, if your not."

"Oh stop it already. I'm not the one with a social problem. Besides Ginny's going out there so you'll know at least one person. I know she's going to meet you there, so get ready to dance your shoes off. It starts at three o'clock sharp and no one is late for that dance."

Hermione turned red. "I'll get paired up with a perfect stranger and make a fool of myself."

Kitrina sighed. This girl was being too difficult. 

That was the last straw.

No more Ms. Nice Vixen.

She winked over in Crookshanks direction, who seemed to give a kitty wink back. Fox ears and tail popped out and Kitrina marched straight over to Hermione, while Crookshanks ran over to the desk. While he was jumping off, Kitrina tapped over to Hermione.

"Oh, Hermione."

"Yes?"

"Crookshanks stole your Arithmancy workbook." Truth to her word, Crookshanks had Hermione's miniature Arithmancy workbook set firmly in his jaws. 

Frowning, Hermione stuck out her hand. "Crookshanks, give it back."

Crookshanks walked out the door.

"Crookshanks."

And he didn't turn back.

"CROOKSHANKS!"

_Yep, Kitrina thought to herself and also trying her best not to laugh. __That kitty was long gone._

Hermione ran after her cat. "CROOKSHANKS THAT HAS ALL OF MY HOMEWORK PROBLEMS IN THERE!"

Kitrina ran after her closing the door and grabbing Hermione's purse. "Now let's get this party started," she said slyly to herself, her fox ears wiggling with pleasure.

***

The festival was a stunning sight, Hermione thought to herself as she walked along with Kitrina. Kitrina was showing Hermione all the different sights and telling her what they were about, since the neither boys nor Ginny around to do it. The three of them said they would meet them for the Dace of the Eyes.

"OH OH! There goes the Exploding Snap table! I have to stop by there later. I'm a pro at that game."

Hermione laughed. "But it's completely random."

Kitrina winked at her. "I have some of the best luck in the world."

"I'll take your word for it," Hermione said with a smile.

"Mione! Fox!"

Both girls turned around to face a running Ron and Harry followed by Ginny. All three were wearing some of their best robes. Harry was wearing a pine green colored one, Ginny was in royal lavender, while Ron was in a nice maroon robe with black around the edges. Ron was the first to reach them but just stopped and stared silently, his eyes filled with awe. Harry and Ginny had caught up and were about to say something when the air was filled with the sounds of bells and drums.

Ginny shrieked. "The dance is about to start. COME ON!" She grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her over to the main square.

Kitrina laughed and nudged Ron in the stomach as they watched the two girls walked away. She narrowed her eyes and her smile became slightly evil.  "Better go catch her before someone else does, lover-boy," she quietly so that only he would hear.

Ron turned red and shot her a look that would kill one hundred dragons. He walked off muttering something about an extra moving target.

Harry caught on and smiled. "Are you going to dance?"

Kitrina shook her head. "No."

"Why not?"

Kitrina just looked up at him and smiled. "I have a feeling that I shouldn't, that's all. Shouldn't you be off too?"

He shrugged and went to go join the crowds leaving the vixen by herself. Kitrina sighed and looked around. "I wonder if he's here?" She simply giggled and went to go skip around for the best seat in the house. She couldn't miss this little show.

Hermione was very lost and very confused. Wizards and Witches from teenagers to adults were running around to the front of the giant area that was completely bare except for a stage gathered at the front set up with all sorts of drums and other instruments. But what confused her even more was that people were gathering around in lines before the bare area and doing something.  
  


"Ginny, what are we doing?" Hermione yelled through all the noise of the crowd.

"We have to drink the potion first, if we don't then we won't be able to do the dance."

They reached one of the shorter lines and waited their turn. Hermione realized that it was a certain minority of wizards that were passing out the drinks. They were adult women, who had flowing dirty blond curls and tan skin like Kitrina's. They had ribbons falling from their hair and their robes were designed differently from everyone else's with different kinds of charms and bells hanging off of them.

"Who are they?" Hermione asked Ginny.

"They're the gypsies that live on the outskirts of town. They come in every once and so often and always appear for the festival. They coordinate the Dance of the Eyes and make the potion themselves." She stepped up and took a sip of the drink from the goblet that one of the women gave her.

Next was Hermione, she slowly took the goblet and sipped from it. It tasted like rich chocolate with hints of raspberry, one of her favorites. She handed it back to woman, who motioned for her to step in one of the numerous lines of witches. Hermione found herself positioned in-between two girls just about her age and waiting what seemed like an eternity for something else to happen.

Finally after the last drop had been drunken, the gypsies moved from their spots and began to assemble upon the stage. Bystanders stood at the sides as the hundreds of wizards standing in the lines looked at the stage to see a tall figure walk to the front. She was wearing a shiny gray robe with silver along the edges. Her dirty blond locks fell about her back and eyes sparkled around the crowd. More gypsies, men, women, and even a few children gathered upon along with the woman and gathered instruments in their hands.

Hermione stood still and silent like the others around her as the woman looked around. She placed a small spell upon herself and then raised her hands up. "Are you ready to start the Yule Festival?" Her voice was clear and loud carrying on about the crowd. 

Hundreds of yells and cheers filled the air and then quieted down as she got into position along with her fellow gypsies. 

(A.N. For all of you Shakira fans, I'm sure u know what song I'm talking about and for those of you who don't, I highly suggest you download or buy this song. "Eyes Like Yours" is a very good song.)

The music started off with a loud gong and Hermione could feel her body with the music. Her arms lifted into the air along with everyone around. Her body turned three-hundred and sixty degrees in a jump and she spun around again along her line. Her mine felt blank but she could clearly hear the song in the background. The gypsies voice was different. Instead of sweetly flowing it was a harsh voice that gave the song a life of its own.

_Oh, you know I have seen_

_A sky without a sun_

_A man with no nation_

_Saint's captive in chains_

_A song with no name_

_For lack of imagination_

Hermione felt her hands clasp along with others as she weaved her way among the chains of people participating. She felt like she was in a trance, hearing the voice flow along with the background music. 

Ya he…… 

_And I have seen_

_Darker than ebony_

_Ya he……_

_And now it seems, that I_

_Without your eyes could never be_

Kitrina watched from her spot from a rooftop. The Dance of Eyes was truly one of her favorite things to watch. It was amazing how the people coordinated themselves along with the beat of the music. The music itself was unique and different, upbeat and full of rhythm. If it weren't for the fact that she was on another mission, she would have joined herself. _But-,she thought to herself,__ I'd rather watch the scene playing right before my eyes. _

She sighed.

"Kitrina, you are just to much of a romantic!" she said to herself laughing.

_My one desire, all I aspire_

_Is in your eyes forever to live_

_Traveled all over, the seven oceans_

_There is nothing that I wouldn't give_

_Came from Bahrein, got to Beruit_

_Looking for someone comparing to you_

_Tearing down windows and doors_

_And I could not find eyes like yours_

Hermione felt as light as air as she twirled again and touched someone else's hand. Her brown eyes met that of some hazel ones and for a spilt second they seemed to be studying each other. It felt so weird to her. The music sounded so Arabian with the beats of the drums and the sound of the horn in the background. She could hear the jingling of various chains and the ringing of bells. 

_Came from Bahein, got to Beruit_

_Looking for someone comparing to you_

_Tearing down windows and doors_

_And I could not find eyes like yours_

It was like the music was guiding her somewhere, to a certain location of the stage. But to who? And where were they?

_Oh, I have seen_

_A woman of means_

_In rags and begging for pleasure_

_Crossed a river of salt_

_Just after I rode_

_A ship that sunk in the desert_

_Ya he..._

_And I have seen_

_Darker than ebony_

_Ya he…_

_And now it seems, that I _

_Without your eyes could never be_

_My one desire-_

_Who do I desire? Hermione asked herself._

_All I aspire-_

_Is for your eyes forever to live_

_Traveled all over the seven oceans_

_There is nothing that I wouldn't give-_

_What would I give? Hermione thought._

_Came from Bahrein, came from Beruit_

_Looking for someone comparing to you-_

_Who am I searching for? Hermione's mine screamed out at her._

_Tearing down windows and doors_

_And I could not find eyes like yours_

All of a sudden the music slowed, with every dancer slowing along with it. Instead of blurred figures with still eyes, Hermione saw people passing by her. Her hands grasped at theirs and they traveled slowly in a circle. All of a sudden three loud beats caused them to let go and the yet again went into that fast pace beat that carried her to some unknown destination. The final verse chorused out loud as Hermione felt herself go faster grasping and spinning and traveling. If it weren't for the potion, she surely would have felt ill.

[A.N: Okay here there would be a verse in Arabian but since I couldn't find the translation or the words written in the roman alphabet I couldn't insert them. T_T  I'm sorry]

_Came from Bahein, got to Beruit_

_Looking for someone comparing to you_

Tearing down windows and doors 

_And I could not find eyes like yours_

All of a sudden Hermione hand clasp that of someone else's and she felt her head drop down as the music suddenly stopped. Hermione breathed lightly. Despite the speed and numerous turns she felt fairly well and could easily walk. It had gone by so quickly, she thought to herself.

But…..

Whose hand was she grasping?

She lifted up her head slowly.

And brown eyes quickly met with blue ones.

***********************************************************************************************

LOL, I wonder if I could call this a cliffhanger. I'm sure all of you know whose hand she's grasping. Right? Actually this scene right here was the part that I've wanted to write this forever but it just took me a while to get to it. (school, moving halfway across the country, finding a cure for cancer{I wish…..}). So for all of you romance junkies I guess you know what this means. Hehe. 

Okay I have these people to thank for reviewing and I'm all set to write off the next chapter:

Bladed Devil: Oh wow. I'm very excited that you think so.

Just Another Weasley: I'm very happy that you love it. Please provide me with any advice and commentary that you can.

Pansy Potter: I'm actually taking that into consideration. I guess you can say that Kitrina tries to play matchmaker for those two and she'll have a major part to play with it also.

Esther and Mal: thank you


	9. ChAPteR 9: Blue Eyed Blooms

Storybook Crisis 

By: Gemin16

ChAPteR 9: Blue-eyed Blooms

***********************************************************************************************

Hermione was shocked.

And embarrassed.

And completely ready to die and fly away on heaven's wings.

Hermione was staring into a pair of very deep pair of blue eyes. So blue that she felt like she was melting before a blue flame of passion. It was the man of her dreams.

It was-

It was-

It was-

Orlando Bloom?!

Hermione snapped back into reality. "Huh? How did you get into this story?"

Orlando looked surprised. "That's a very good question. What am I doing here?"

"OH MY GOD! ORLANDO!!!!!!" Orlando tried to duck but it was too late. Kitrina tackled him within seconds. 

"Um who are you?" 

Kitrina looked up at him with hearts in her eyes. "My name's Kitrina. Your biggest fan!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Okay lets get back on track here. How did you end up here?"

Orlando shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Who cares? You can stay as long as you want," Kitrina said hanging onto his arm.

"Umm Ms. Kitty or whoever you are. Your cutting off circulation to my arm."

Hermione looked at him. "I thought your eyes were darker than blue?"

"I'm trying out contacts."

"Oh."

"Um Ms. I can't feel my arm."

"Orlando, what size collar do you wear?"

"Kitrina, you can't keep him."

"Why not? I'll take good care of him. I'll feed him and brush him and take him out for walks."

"Kitrina…… Well maybe as long as you promise to keep him healthy."

"Um do I get a say in this?"

***********************************************************************************************

This is what happens when you eat a cupcake at 12:00pm.

Well not only that but I felt like being mean and everyone just assumed that it was who they thought it was so I decided to get creative. Besides everyone is always referring an Archery Ron to Legolas.

Hehe, anywho. Please R+R even if its just a silly chapter.


	10. Chapter 9 seriously!: Prophises

 Storybook Crisis 

By: Gemin16 

A/N: LOL, so I guessed ya'll know who the mysterious blue eye kid is by now eh. Well it wasn't like I made it that much of a mystery ^_^;.  Fluff in this chapter but for those of you, who are slightly disappointed by the amount, please don't kill me. (*Authoress quickly looks for the number for that really cute bodyguard she spotted the other day*)

Special thanks too all who reviewed

Ferggirl99: Hehe, I'm glad u think so. I find it a little difficult to make him a hero yet keep him in character. Writing this chapter 

     was kinda difficult.

gilli: Hehe try not to kill me, I put as much fluff as I could fit into this chapter. I admit that blue eyes are pretty but I'm more of a 

       dark rich color.

CurlsofGold: Not much of a cliffie but hey come on, how many blue eyed beauties are out there. 

Pansy Potter: Awww come on, I wou.dn't mind five bucks. I spent over $140 on anime this past Saturday and now I'm broke.

 But get this it's a once in a lifetime chance. Make in ten bucks and I'll tell ya a little secret that everyone's been dying

  to  know. Oh and you have to get that Shakira CD. I highly recommend it.

Jessica B: I apologize for the misconception but yes, in this fic Hermione is from London and well I can't help that I type the 

                way I speak.

Adnap Nottap: I was wondering where you've been and yes, Gemey was being a meanie by leaving it at that but as a true 

                        author, I love to create suspense within my reviewers. Hehe, don't worry your romance is coming up soon. 

                        And I'm glad you love Kitrina, she's one of my favorite Original Characters that I've ever gave birth to.

Tigerz_Angel, Rebecca Anne, and Xodox: Thank you, I really appreciate the comments.

Chapter Nine: Prophesies 

***********************************************************************************************

Hermione was shocked. 

And embarrassed.

And ready to float away on heaven's wings, happier than an angel.

Of course if the feelings that she felt weren't soaring through her head she would have seen the exact same look on Ron's face.

"Attention everyone!"

Hermione and Ron snapped out of their thoughts and turned to the stage where the gypsy who sang spoke out to all the dancers. "Now here are the rules for all those that participated in the Dance of Eyes. Rule number one, you and your partner will stay together through out the whole festival. If you are to go with another partner, than a horrible curse will befall upon you. This is the one and only rule so may you follow it and may your celebrating be merry." She smiled and raised her wand and arms in the air. All the other gypsies behind her did the same.

"NOW LET THE FESTIVAL BEGIN!"

Hermione watched in awe as the sky lit up with hundreds of paper confetti, streamers and ribbons. Pixies flew across the sky creating blue streaks and owls flew around also dropping flowers all over the crowds. Everyone was cheering at the wonderful events unfolding right before their eyes.

Hermione had never seen anything like this before in her life.

A stray flower had dropped right before Ron and he looked at it. Hermione was to busy watching everything unfold to notice.

"Psst. Give her the flower!"

It took all of Ron's strength not to jump in shock. He turned and looked on his shoulder and saw a micro Kitrina sitting there.

"What the hell are you doing there?!" He whispered angrily. 

"Making sure you don't screw up!" Kitrina said. "Pick up the damn flower and give it to her!"

"Okay, okay," Ron mumbled as he picked it up. It was a simple flower, a carnation of a simple blue color. It matches her robe, he thought to himself.

"Hey, Mione?" He said, turning a slight pinkish color.

Hermione snapped out of her amazed state. "Hmm? Yes, Ron."

"Here, for you." He handed it to her slowly. Hermione took it and held it in her hands and smiled back at him.

"Thank you."

Kitrina sighed happily from Ron's shoulder. Oh yes, this was going to be one fun festival, she thought dreamily to herself.

***

Hermione sighed as she lay down in her bed. The first official day of the Yule Festival was beyond her wildest dreams. She had fun and got to hang out with Kitrina and Ginny. Not only that.

Her partner was Ron.

"Are we thinking about a certain little red head, Missy?" A smiling Kitrina asked from the windowsill.

Hermione turned red. "Uhhh."

"Didn't your parents also ever tell you that lying is a bad thing?"

"Oh hush up."

Kitrina just giggled and stared out at the stars.

"You've been surprisingly quiet these past few hours," Hermione asked as she sat up in her bed. She used her wand to make the light on the candle brighter.

"Are you trying to say that I talk to much?!" Kitrina said. When Hermione shook her head the vixen sighed. "I was just thinking of the stars."

"What about them?" Hermione asked.

"Well when I was just a kid and master was teaching me scholastics, he used to tell me all sorts of funny tales and sayings. You know, just childish bedtime tales. I was just thinking about one." She looked back out, her eyes containing a hint of forbidden sadness. "It makes me think of all the things he taught me too."

Hermione looked down onto her bed. She knew how much Kitrina missed Merlin, her master and mentor, because she too missed her family and schoolteachers back in London. She wondered what they were doing now? Were they worried about her? Did they know she was gone?       

Kitrina sighed and looked at Hermione with a smile, the sadness gone. "Want to know something cool?"

"What?"

"They say that when two people are alone under the stars and they kiss just when a shooting star passes by that it's a sign that they belong together forever and that nothing can tear them apart."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You believe in that type of thing?"

"Of course I do. The festival is a truly magical event in more ways than one. I hope your going to try it-" she said with a wink.

Hermione turned bright red. "KITRINA!"

Kitrina jumped down from the windowsill and looked Hermione straight in the eye. "Admit it. YOU LIKE RON!"

Hermione adverted her eyes. 

That was enough for the fox. Her extra set of ears appeared slowly as if creeping up into the scene. Yep, you like him."

"Honestly, Kitrina-"

Kitrina folded her arms across her chest. "Honest nothing. What good does it do to lie to your heart?"

Hermione sat quietly still, while Kitrina looked at her, fox ears listening. "I hit the button didn't I?"

_She did just more than that, _Hermione thought dryly  "SoIkindoflikehimsowhat? Notthathelikesmebackoranything," she mumbled quickly.

Kitrina's highly sensitive fox ears caught every single word. _Hermione, if you only knew, she thought wryly to herself. "Okay, okay, I'll leave you alone now BUT when you're ready to spill, I'll always have four ears that'll listen to you." She turned into her fox form and went to go sleep under Hermione's covers with Crookshanks._

Hermione lay back down and stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes refused to stay closed. She looked out the window and saw a shooting star pass by.

_The festival is truly a magical event._

 Kitrina's words rang in her mind. 

_She's right, Hermione thought. __I witnessed part of that magic today. She remembered the Dance of Eyes and the feeling she got when she met Ron's eyes at the end. The flower he gave her._

She smiled at her last thought as she fell asleep. She couldn't wait for morning to come. 

***

The next morning, Hermione found herself and Kitrina preparing for the second day of the festival. Hermione dressed herself in a soft lavender robe while Kitrina was wearing a green one. Kitrina had put Hermione's hair half up and half down and had woven a ribbon into her hair.

"I'm such a genius," Kitrina said admiring her work.

"……."

"What?"

_She can be such a megalomaniac sometimes, Hermione thought to herself. All of a sudden a knock was at her door._

"Coming.' She opened the door to find Ron standing there in some navy blue robes. He smiled. "I'm here to pick you up."

"You mean arrow boy can actually be polite and gentlemanly? That potion must have done something to him besides make him dance," Kitrina said walking towards the door.

Ron growled. "What would you know?"

Kitrina raised an eyebrow and smiled wickedly. "Oh believe me, I know plenty." With that she stared to laugh and walked down the halls, with Crookshanks behind her. She started laughing inwardly as she thought of the looks on Ron and Hermione's faces.

"Where are you off too?" Ron called out after her. 

"Off for tea and cookies and a quaint little walk in the park. See you two later."

"I swear she gets weirder and weirder by the day," Ron said to Hermione.

Hermione smiled. "She's just caught up in the moment."

Ron shook his head. "Shall we be off then?" He offered her his arm.

"Sure," she said taking it.

The festival was decorated with flowers flying among the wind and pixies flying everywhere. Hermione could have sworn that she saw Anim, the leader of the pixies fly by her, winking. 

As her and Ron walked the crowds together, they saw many people also walking by in couples. They even saw Ron's twin older brothers, Fred and George, who were paired up with Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell and their friend Lee Jordan (who was with Alicia Spinnet).

Later on that afternoon, after eating a nice lunch with Ron's parents, he and Hermione walked along Main Street near Diagon Alley.

Ron smiled as he watched Hermione's face change with every new thing that she saw. "You sure seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Well of course I am," Hermione said. "It's really nice and it's only the second day of the festival. What else happens?"

Ron thought for a minute. "Well in the next three days various competitions will be held to determine awards for the Yule Ball on the sixth day. Quidditch, creature fighting, dueling, skills with ordinary weapons."

"Including archery?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah. Archery, sword fighting, pole arms, and all sorts of different skills are tested. Skills that are no longer needed except for in the Forbidden Forest."

Hermione's eyes opened. "No longer needed?"

Ron laughed. "I suppose McGonagall hasn't taught you that history lesson yet. I'm not sure of the details because we haven't fully covered it but over 400 years ago, there was a period where magic could not be used for long intervals of time. People had to rely on weapons to protect themselves."

"How come?"

Ron thought for a moment. "Well back then there was a bog filled with a strange mist. It was forbidden to ever enter the area surrounding the bog for fear of upsetting the balance that kept the magic canceling mist concealed within that area. A group of wizards and witches disobeyed and did something to the fog that set the mist free. It spread all over the land and ruined the lives of many wizarding families. Mystical and magical creatures were set free and without the protection of magic many humans and innocents were killed."

Hermione was shocked. A time without magic? In this world? She could only imagined what chaos ran across the land. They continued to walk, discussing various things. Of course the process of speaking stopped when Ron slowly and hesitantly took hold of her hand as they waked further into the depths of the festival.   

Filled with tents, roaming owls, strange music and many demonstrations, the gypsy section of the Festival was by far one of the more popular aspects of the celebration. So many people were buying their mysterious charms and beautifully made robes with their designs all over them.

Hermione stopped to admire a woven blanket with a diagram of the stars all over it. _It would be perfect for Kitrina_, she thought to herself. "Wow, this is so beautiful. Don't you agree, Ron?"

Ron shrugged. Shopping and looking at things like this weren't really his thing but he didn't mind. It made her happy so he could live with it. He was looking forward to the Quidditch meeting later on that afternoon. He and Harry were going to meet before dinner so that they could arrive early.

"Uhh yeah. It's really nice."

Hermione looked up at him. "Do you want to do something else?"

Ron shook his head. "No that's okay. You wanted to come here so I'll stay."

Hermione smiled and examined the blanket. She couldn't believe how nice Ron was being. He practically did everything she wanted to do. She wondered if it was because she was his partner but deep inside her heart she hoped it was for other reasons.

She turned her attention back on the blanket. It was done so beautifully and they looked so lifelike shining against the onyx black cloth that made up the background. She could tell that no magic had been used in it at all but it still looked like a spell was used to make it so enchanting. The stars were in positions that shaped the constellations and in the top corner was a full moon. 

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Hermione looked up to see a gypsy standing above her. Hermione's eyes opened wide. It was the same one who had sung the song for the Dance of Eyes. 

"Yes it is," Hermione said quietly.

"My grandmother made it when she was about your age I would think. She was one of the bet weavers in our clan."

"Really, she must make wonderful pieces if they're as beautiful as this."

The gypsy smiled and kneeled across from Hermione. "My name is Linali, what is yours?"

"Hermione."

"Ron," Ron responded when Linali looked at him.

"Well since you're both here and standing in front of my booth. How would the two of you like a crystal ball reading and give you a taste of pure Divination."

Hermione looked at Ron who shrugged. "I would like to."

The booth was filled with all sorts of mysterious looking candles giving the room a mysterious image to it. In the middle sat a small table covered in a silk cloth with long tassels reaching the bottom. In the middle sat a pale orb that reminded Hermione of the moon with the way it glowed lightly. 

Linali led Hermione to the middle of the room and sat opposite of her at the small table. Placing her hands over the delicate crystal ball and said a small chant over it making it light up brighter. Linali sat still as she stared deep into the ball. Hermione noted that she seemed to be in a trance of some sort.

"You used to be lonely and trusted those only in books but now you are filled with new emotions unusual for you." Hermione turned a pale pinkish color. "I see in your past connections with the mist that is still in around with you today."

Hermione thought for a second. _The mist?_

"Happiness is present as so is sorrow. I see that you are on a quest- it will end before the season changes but the journey will not."

"The journey?"

"Your journey. It's far from over; once you find yourself at an end. It will carry on to another beginning. Just like a storybook." 

Hermione's eyes widened. _Just like a storybook?!_

Linali's eyes snapped out of their trance. She smiled. "Well, do you believe me?" 

Hermione sat still and quiet. Linali had hit the mark about her being lonely and secluded but it was her future that puzzled her. It would end like a storybook? But stories end in all sorts of endings and even different beginnings. Hermione knew that first hand. The shocking part was that everything she was experiencing was so real and she was so happy, that she had completely forgotten that she was in a book. It was only a book and she was most likely dreaming. 

When Linali led her out of the booth, Ron immediately noticed that Hermione was upset about something as so did Linali. She had explained to Hermione that the power of foreseeing sometimes enabled the seer to remember what they said. She apologized over and over again.

Hermione smiled softly. "It wasn't your fault. You were only doing what the art of Divination taught to you to do. Don't worry it was nothing horrible in a sense, it just made me realize something important that's all."

Linali still felt bad. She picked up the star blanket and handed it to Hermione. "Here."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I couldn't take that. It belong-"

Linali pushed it towards her. "Baba would have wanted someone like you to have it. Having the natural eye I could see that there's something special about you. Hermione, you truly are a unique person."

Hermione stopped and looked at Linali, who looked at her with a gentle sincere face. She slowly took the blanket. "Thank you, Linali."

"Just be sure that you stop by if you ever want good luck, I'm also great with charms."

Hermione laughed. "I will."

As her and Ron walked down the street Hermione looked at the ground, a million thoughts running through her head.

"Are you okay, 'Mione?"

"I'll be fine, Ron."

Ron knew that she was lying.

***

"Where could he be?" Kitrina sighed sadly as she sat on a park bench with Crookshanks. They were both sharing a mint ice cream cone.

"Meow."

"What do you mean "Who am I looking for?" I told you already, I'm looking for the guy that I met about a week ago. Not event the most anti-social people would miss the Yule Festival."

"Meow."

Kitrina looked at him. "Well I don't know. I guess it's just because he seemed lonely that's all. It hurts me to see someone that sad." She let out a contented sigh. "Not only that but he has gorgeous eyes, hair-"

"Meow."

Kitrina gave him a sour look. "Well I am part human so of course I would act this crazy. It's all apart of being a female."

"Meow."

Kitrina licked her ice cream cone. "Well even if Hermione never reacts like I do I'm still sure that she admit that he's cute. I mean, what girl wouldn't fall for a Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome?"

Crookshanks rolled his eyes as he took a lick of the cone. Kitrina saw it and pushed the cone up his face covering him in green.

"I thought that you would understand. I mean you are-" Her eyes averted to the crowds walking by and her face lit up in a huge smile. "Come on Crooks, we have our target in sight." She bounded off with Crookshanks following her.

Kalvin walked along the crowds enjoying the scenery. The festival always gave him the chance to discover new techniques and find new clients for his business. He walked up to where his favorite reading spot was, knowing that they would have a book sale going on near there. He already had Lady off on the other side of town buying much-needed items for him.

He was about to proceed along with his business when he felt something run into him, knocking him forward.

"Ouch," Kalvin heard someone say. He turned around to see a teenage girl and a cat standing behind him. He raised an eyebrow as he heard her mumble something to the cat.

"You didn't have to trip me you know."

"Meow."

"Well I can't help it if your full name is too long. Crooks works fine for me."

_Is she okay?_ Kalvin thought to himself. "Umm are you okay?"

The girl lifted her head up and smiled at him. Kalvin had to blink twice. She looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, definitely younger than him. She had long curly hair and tan skin but what shocked him the most was:

Her eyes.

They were exactly like the little vixen that he remembered.

"I'm sorry to have run into you like that," she said standing up and stepping on the cat's tail. She stuck out her hand. "My name is Kitrina. What's yours?"

Normally Kalvin would have ignored something like this but something about her just made him look down at her and not walk away. "Kalvin," he said.

Kitrina was ready and willing to die happy. _Okay so this isn't exactly how I planned we first meet but hey, it worked_, she thought to herself happily. _Now to proceed to step two_.

"Um, so Kalvin, where are you heading off to?"

"Nowhere," Kalvin said and continued walking. He figured it was just another teenager running off somewhere to giggle with her friends.

"Mind if I join you?" Kalvin looked down at her but Kitrina just smiled. He shrugged and continued.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," Kitrina mumbled to Crookshanks.

***

"Hey Ron, over here!" Harry called to his best friend as he and his partner, Lisa Turpin, a Ravenclaw, waited at the ice cream shop. They had had a fun day so far, playing all sorts of games and looking at displays and he had to admit she was slightly more enjoyable than his partner last year, Parvati Patil. Unlike Parvati, Lisa had a strong interest in Quidditch and her and Harry had carried on a very serious discussion on the subject as they ate lunch together. "I see you," Ron said as he and Hermione walked up to the two. "Ready for practice?" 

"Yeah, we better get going before Wood rings our necks for being late." Harry paused and looked at Hermione. "How are you liking the festival?"

"I'm enjoying myself."

"That's good to hear. Well Ron and me better get going. You two don't mind spending a few hours together do you?"

"I don't mind," Lisa said.

"Neither do I. Try not to get yourselves killed, Ron."

_She seems to be getting back to normal_, Ron thought to himself. He wondered what had made Hermione upset. He hated seeing her like that. He smiled at her. "Well I'll see you at dinner. If you find the fox, tell her to join us. Bye."

Lisa looked confused. "Fox?" she asked Hermione.

Hermione smiled. Even though she had only met her yesterday, she already liked Lisa. She was nice, funny, and smart. Hermione also thought she was very pretty, with shoulder length dirty blond hair and bright hazel eyes. "Oh she's just a friend of ours. You'll meet her soon enough, I'm sure she's up to nothing now."

***

"How old are you?" 

"Eighteen."

"Well since your out of school what do you do for a living?"

"Little things."

"Like?"

"……….."

"Where's your partner?"

"I don't have one."

Kitrina smiled. "Why not?"

Kalvin sighed inwardly. Why would this girl follow him? He wondered. She was starting to get annoying. "Cause I don't." He felt a relief of joy as he reached the book table and started rummaging among the numerous titles and choosing the ones he liked. _She'll probably get bored and walk off_, he thought to himself. _She doesn't seem like the type to sit down and read._

Boy was he wrong.

"Oh my gosh they're still printing out this book!" Kalvin turned around to see Kitrina holding out a book with an old cover. It was titled _The Great Wanderings_.  It was incredibly thick and contained at least one thousand pages. "This is one of my favorite books. Sir, sir, how much is this?"

Kalvin watched as she bought and paid for the book. She turned and looked at Kalvin. "Hey aren't you going to pay for the books you chose too?" Kalvin paid for his books and walked on with Kitrina following him, hugging her book closely. He looked at her and she noticed.

"Have you ever read it? I love it so much that I've read it about ten times."

Kalvin blinked in shock. Ten times? That book was a classic, over five hundred years old, and because of its length he could never find too many people to share the enjoyment with. He himself had read it at least twelve. 

Kalvin nodded. "I have."

"Well then, now we have something much more interesting to talk about now, don't we?"

***

Ron watched Hermione as she ate dinner. Even though she sounded better, she still seemed disturbed. He listened as she laughed at something that Lisa had said. Ron frowned. It sounded false, he had heard Hermione laugh before and it sounded much better than that one. Not only that but her eyes seemed sad too.

He thought for a moment as he took a sip of soup. There had to be something that he could do to cheer her up. But what?

_Well the archery contest is in three days,_ he thought to himself. Then he smiled.

_ I know! _


	11. Chapter 10: Reality Check II

Storybook Crisis 

By: Gemin16 

Chapter 10: Reality Check 2

A/N: Hehe. I'm glad ya guys enjoyed that faulty chapter. It was a very last minute thing inspired by a cupcake. ( yes the authoress is a weirdo) Oh well, I was actually thinking about updating a week from now but I decided to be generous. Hehe.

Kitrina: Please you updated early because you wanted their reaction because in this chapter the- (Gemin16 covers her mouth)

Gemin16: Now, now Kitrina, you can't go and ruin the chapter. Let them read it for themselves.

Special Thanks to:

Xodox: What I meant was that every story has a different ending and beginning so Hermione doesn't know how this story will end. Was that clear? I hope so.

Ferggirl99: Isn't Orlando cute? God I love him, he's on the back of my TV class notebook. 

                  Gemin16: Kitrina what are you doing? HEY BRING BACK MY TV NOTEBOOK

Okay back to the review. As for Kitrina (besides the fact that she's a very dead fox unless she returns my notebook!) well I guess cause she's part fox it would be natural for her to get into trouble but I would worry more about Kalvin. Look what he's getting himself into. And as for Ron, I'm glad you think I'm not making him be too OOC but in this chapter I think it contains more than the average dose. This chapter is by far the hardest to write. (Thinks of the many hours of writing the scenes instead of working on her essay that's due in five days O.O)

Gillian: LOL, well if you ask nicely he might tell you but instead I think it would be better for you just to read this chapter.

Clark Ariola: OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I would have sent this to chapter to you but I got ur review a minute before I updated but I try and remember to send the next one to you.

Tigerz_Angel: Yes he is but what can be going on in that head of his?

Pansy Potter: HMMM, the question is. Can I wait that long? LOL, J/K

Adnap Nottap: I WAS WONDERING WHO WOULD BE THE FIRST TO FIGURE IT OUT! At first I was thinking of asking everyone that question but I wanted to see if any one would figure it out after chapter nine. I commend you on being the first to figure it out and like I said before, I have a very special ending for this story ^_~

Hehe, anywho. Well I hope this chapter fills your needs. I have to say your reviews are fun to read. As for Kitrina not joining the dance, well she had a feeling that Kalvin wouldn't join. Yes, I believe that those two would make the perfect couple and trust me they play an extremely important part in the story. 

Any ways for those who read and not review, I thank you too. Enjoy this next chapter.

***********************************************************************************************

"Oh wow, Hermione, it's so beautiful! Thank you!" Kitrina said hugging Hermione with one arm and holding the star blanket in the other.

"Your welcome." Hermione said.

Kitrina unfolded it and looked it over. "I'm having such a great day," she said dancing around the room.

Hermione lifted an eyebrow as she lay down on her bed. "Oh really?"

"Yep, I met the man of dreams, found a copy of my favorite book, and got to turn Crookshanks green. I couldn't ask for anything else." _Well a gift from Kalvin wouldn't hurt, she thought to herself innocently (or as innocent as Kitrina could think^_~)._

"That's good to hear."

Kitrina jumped on top of the bed and looked Hermione straight in the eye. "Spill it, Deary."

"Spill what?"

"For one, your definitely not yourself. So tell me what happened?"

Hermione looked at Kitrina, who was most likely her closest girl friend that she had ever had.  _And to think that all she might be, she thought, __is a character in a stupid storybook._

Finally succumbing to the events of the day, Hermione grabbed Kitrina in a hug and cried. 

*

The next morning Kitrina woke up earlier than usual, making sure that Hermione was still asleep. Stretching in her vixen body, she looked at the slumbering teenager.

_Poor thing, she cried herself to sleep, she thought to herself as she transformed and got dressed in some different robes. Crookshanks popped his head out from under the covers and looked at Kitrina._

"Meow."

"Just keep an eye on her until she wakes up, okay? I'm going to find a certain redhead and make sure he does something about it." 

***

"You're a tad bit late on that idea," Ron told Kitrina as he put on his boots, outside his home. He was wearing his adventure attire instead of the festival robes. Kitrina was actually surprised that he was up at the crack of dawn.

"What happened?"

Ron shrugged as he grabbed a knife from a box sitting at the edge of a shelf, causing it to crash down.

"WILL YOU KEEP DOWN T HAT INFERNAL RACKET! IT'S SIX THIRTY IN THE BLOODY MORNING!"

Ron rolled his eyes. "It's time for you to wake up anyway, Fred!" He looked at Kitrina. "She got her future told and when she came out she seemed upset."

Kitrina thought. "I tried asking her but she refused, saying that no one would understand." She rubbed her ear in a habitual manner. "What are you two going to do today?"

"Well as you can see I'm properly dressed for an outing in the woods, so that's exactly where I'm going to take her. The archery contest is coming up and I need to gather materials to make my arrows. It's a two person job and takes all day to find the right things." He grinned cockily at Kitrina.

She smiled. "You actually thought of a plan that might actually work. I'm so proud of you."

Ron glared at her. "If it wasn't for the fact that I'm out of arsenal, you'd regret that statement."

Kitrina reached to ruffle his red mop of hair. But since Ron was a good foot and half taller than her, she smack him hard on the back instead knocking him forward. "Just make her feel better, okay, Arrow-boy?"

He smiled." I promise I'll do everything I can."

***

Hermione awoke feeling slightly groggy but a little refreshed. It felt good to cry some of her sorrow away nut when she took a look around her room; a sudden wave of sadness filled her heart. _I'm just in a book._

After getting out of bed and dressing she noticed a note sitting on top of her desk.

**Decided to leave early, see you tonight.**

**          Ciao,**

**             Kitrina**

"Looks like she went out to enjoy herself," Hermione mumbled to herself. She was about to do her hair when she heard a bump at her window. She turned around to see Pig ramming himself into the glass. 

Hermione sighed as she opened the window. "Come on in, you. Even if you are just a character I can't stand seeing you ram into my window for the next five minutes." Pulling the minute owl inside she let him fly around her room for a while until he finally landed (ran into actually) her arm. He hooted at her, showing Hermione his leg. She saw the note on it and removed it.

**'Mione,**

Meet me at Hagrid's as soon as you can. I need you to help me with something in the woods. 

**Ron**

**P.S. Hope you don't mind sandwiches for dinner**

_Ron._

Obviously if everyone else in the city was just a character in a book, then so was he. Hermione felt her heart sink lower into the abyss that was created by her sadness. Why was her life consumed of nothing but books?

Pig shook his head as he felt rain from above.

***

Ron stood by Hagrid's empty shack as he waited for Hermione. The clock rang ten times as he wiped his forehead. "I knew I should have sent Eriol instead of Pig. I sent him around seven, so Hermione should be getting here within the hour then." He sighed. "Why didn't I just tell her yesterday during dinner?" 

He looked at the large sack of food his mother made for him, containing a dozen sandwiches, some fruit, juice, and water. Just enough so that they could spend the whole day there without going hungry. He looked up at the sky. He hoped that he could make her feel better, and he would do anything that he could to help her.

_Hermione._

He heard someone walking up the hill and towards him and looked up. It was Hermione.

He smiled. "So it looks like Pig made it within two hours of sending the note to you after all. He must be getting better."

"He is." Ron frowned. Her voice sounded so lifeless just then, soft and forced. Not audible and confident like usual.

"Hermione-?"

She looked at him, her eyes were dull and dark. Ron adverted his look to miss the pain that was being admitted from the brown eyes. He picked up his gear and turned to the forest. "Ready to go? I got lunch and dinner taken care of so we won't be back till nightfall."

"Yeah."

They started their walk with Hermione trailing right behind Ron. From in front, Ron could see that she was walking with her head down. He frowned. If he didn't find out what was wrong with her then it would be her end.

"Where and what are we doing anyway?"

Ron pointed to his bow. "The archery contest is in two days. Since it's a nice day out, I decided that it would be a perfect time to gather wood to make the arrows. I'll need at least five dozen."

"Then why bring me along?"

"Well I need someone to help me make them and I thought that you might like the outing in the woods. All the competitions start tomorrow and I need someone to help me practice."

He turned around and smiled at her. She looked up and gave him a weak smile back.

***

"I hope Ron can cheer Hermione up," Kitrina said to herself as she walked along the festival grounds. She looked around hoping to see a glimpse of Kalvin anywhere. After having a long conversation about reading, Kitrina had asked if they could meet again. Agreeing, Kalvin said that he would be at the Leaky Cauldron around ten.

"What are you up to, little vixen?" Kitrina looked up to see Sirius looking down at her. He was holding a package in his hand.

Kitrina smiled. "Oh I'm just about to meet someone. What brings you around here?"

Sirius held up the package. "Harry's birthday is coming up soon. Found an early present for him."

"I'll have to make a memo of that. Care to come with me? I'm going to the Leaky Cauldron."

"Sure." Kitrina told Sirius of her plans for the day and Sirius told her about what was happening around town. It was her first Yule festival after fifty years of slumber. As they entered the pub, another man came walking out. He ran into Kitrina almost knocking her down.

"Hey watch where you're walking!" The man kept walking away. "HEY I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

Sirius put his hand on top of her head. "It wouldn't be good to get mad over someone who won't change their ways, little one. I've learned that the hard way."

Kitrina sighed. "All right. I'm not little by the way!" She looked over at the crowd and spotted Kalvin. She waved at him as a woman passed by them, mumbling an "excuse me". Kalvin nodded his head in return and Kitrina turned to Sirius but was surprised by his expression. He looked completely in shock.

"Sirius?"

"Rosaline?" He snapped out of his expression and smiled at her. "I'll see you for lunch, vixen." He hurried out the door.

Kitrina scratched her head as she walked towards Kalvin. "Wonder what that was all about?" She waved hi again as she sat down. "So what's the plan for today?"

Kalvin took a sip of his drink. "I suppose we can walk around." He had just gotten finished talking with Nott about another business proposal. Agreeing to it, he sent Lady after him to keep an eye after Voldemort's henchman.

"Okay!" Kalvin looked at Kitrina.  He was utterly amazed by her cheerfulness. Just a moment ago she was raving mad and then she was back to perky again. She was nothing but a mystery to him; always smiling, laughing and following him around. Why? What could someone as bright and vivacious as her want to hang around someone as dark and secluded as him?

He stood up, and having already paying for his drink he motioned for Kitrina to follow him. Maybe there was something to her that he could figure out. "So why didn't you join the Dance of Eyes?" he asked as they walked along the street.

She shrugged with a grin on her face. "I'm a horrible dancer."

"Funny considering the dance has nothing to do with how well you dance."

Kitrina giggled. "Well then I guess I'll tell you once you tell me a little about yourself."

Kalvin shrugged. "What's there for me to tell?"

Kitrina thought for a moment. "Um, well where's your family?"

"Dead."

Kitrina looked down. "I'm sorry."

"What's there to be sorry about? What's done is done." He suddenly stopped as he felt his arm being pulled down. He looked at the girl, who was staring at him angrily.

"Why are you saying that for!? Aren't you sad that they're gone? Don't you miss them at all?"

_Miss them? Kalvin thought. __I barely knew my mother, and my father wasn't much of a parental figure. Hell, Lady took care of me from the time I could remember. "No, and I don't care either. How would you understand?" He turned to walk away but Kitrina yanked on his arm harder. Kalvin looked back down at her prepared to give her an annoyed look but instead was surprised at her reaction. _

She was crying.

Shocked and confused all he could so was look at her. Angry tears ran down Kitrina's face as she stared up at him. "I understand perfectly! I miss my family every single day of my life!" _Master. Yurah. Emerys. How could I not forget or stop caring about them? _

Kalvin watched as more tears fell. "How could you not care? They're your family! They love you no matter who you are or what you did!"

_Why would she care so much? Kalvin thought to himself._

_Who was she?_

***

"So how am I supposed to do this again?"

"Like this," Ron said taking the branch from Hermione and once again showing her how to shape it into a thin aerodynamic stick, also known as an arrow. It was already after lunch and they were both sitting in a large clearing with hundreds of branches around them. "Got it now?"

Hermione took it from him and used her knife to scrap wood off like he did. Ron smiled. "That's the way. You're a fast learner, Hermione. Took Ginny three weeks to get the gist of it."

"Thank you, but couldn't you just use a spell to shape them for you?"

Ron shook his head as he checked over his fire. He laid an arrow edge into the fire to harden the sharpened ends. "Can't. Rule number one of the archery tournament is no magic whatsoever, neither to shoot the arrows nor to make them. They even use a spell to make sure no magic has been tinted on them. That's why it takes so long to make enough arrows for it. I've run out of them in the past and each year after that I make sure I have enough to last me for all three parts of the competition."

Hermione looked up. "Three parts?"

Ron nodded. "The first half deals with stable targets. Whoever gets within the required limit gets into the next round. The second round deals with moving targets all over, whoever hits the most within a certain time limit moves on to the final round. The final round consists of an obstacle course dealing with moving and stable targets."

"How far have you made it?"

"To the third round but I usually end up losing. The farthest I've ever made is third place."

Hermione kept on scraping the wood. Third place, huh? Ron was good, that was a true fact. She couldn't think of too many people who could score a target like him especially in extremely stressful circumstances. Hermione snorted. _No wonder he's so good, she thought to herself. __The author would want him to be that good._

Characters always fit the image that the creator wanted. So it was natural that Ron be that good.

That Harry would be so brave.

That Kitrina be so cheerful and optimistic.

That Ginny and Lisa would be such good friends for her.

That this world would be so perfect for Hermione.

_Just like a storybook._

Ron tested the edge of a newly burnt arrow. "Perfect." He counted the number that they had, just a little over three-dozen. Just a few dozen more to go and he would be all set and ready. He looked at the sun. It was around three o'clock so they had plenty of time.

"Hey, Mione, want a lesson in archery?"

Hermione looked up from her brooding to see Ron twirling an arrow and holding his bow. _Might as well play along. She nodded. "Sure." She put down her craft and went over to Ron. _

_She's brooding again, Ron thought to himself. He planned on talking to her as they headed home but he didn't know exactly how top approach her on it. He knew that if he didn't talk to her about it, Kitrina would have his hide. Not only that but Hermione would be sad. He had to admit that she looked a lot prettier when she was smiling and laughing. _

He shook his head and looked at her. "All right. First you get the proper grip on the bow. Like this." He showed her and then picked up an arrow. "Then you raise it in coordination with your eye level and pull back till the edge of the arrow is parallel to your eye. Keep both eyes open and your hand steady. You point at your target," he pointed his bow at a tree trunk," and fire."

He let go letting the arrow zip through the air and land in the tree with a _THUNK dead center. He turned top Hermione and handed her the bow and another arrow. "Now it's your turn."_

Hermione took the bow and held it in her hands. Ron nodded his approval so then she took the arrow and placed it in the same position like he did. "Like this?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "No you're not pulling it back hard enough. Here let me help you." He placed his hands over hers and helped her pull back the arrow. They were both standing side by side, so close to each other. Hermione could feel the heat from his body, the smell of his clothes, the touch of his fingers wrapped around hers.

It felt so real.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard Ron tell her to let go. She did and the arrow fell a foot below where his landed. He told her not bad.

But it wasn't real.

It was just a story.

Just a story.

A story.

The perfect guy, the perfect friends, the perfect environment. All in a quaint little package called a storybook. 

Ron examined the arrow. "Not bad, Hermione. Why don't you try again?" He turned to look at her and saw her with her face down. "Hermione?" He walked up to her and saw drops falling from her face. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said.

_Bloody Hell nothings wrong, Ron thought to himself. He lifted her face up to see tears covering her face. "Hermione, tell me what's wrong."_

Hermione removed his face from his grasp. "You wouldn't understand, Ron. You can't possibly understand."

Ron looked at her strait in the face. "Try me."

"It's a story," Hermione said looking at him. "It's nothing but a story!" She threw herself at Ron and started crying harder than ever. Not knowing what else to do, Ron held her close and let her cry. He thought for a moment. _Just like a storybook? What did she mean?_

 He pulled her away for a moment. "Hermione, explain. Please. It'll help me help you." He wiped some tears from her face.

"You're all nothing but characters apart of a story. A story that I found in a library and brought home to read. I opened it and I somehow found myself in this world. You see it's a story. It's not real, it's not reality. It's too perfect to be real.  Ginny, Harry, Remus, Sirius, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Linali, Kitrina, you……." She trailed off letting more tears fall.

_So that's what been bothering her all this time, Ron thought to himself. "Hermione."_

"Don't you see, Ron? You're nothing but a dream and realizing this just hurts so much. More than you could possibly understand."

"Hermione, I think you're wrong." She looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

He smiled weakly at her. "If I'm correct, a dream is something that you experience like reality but in a dream you can't get hurt. And between all the adventures that we've shared, we've both gotten hurt too many times to know that this is no where near a dream. The injuries that you got, didn't you feel pain?"

Pain? 

Hermione's eyes widened. That's right. All those times. The cut on her leg when she first arrived, the incident at Gringotts, the attack at the Three Broomsticks, the attack of the Dart birds, and the labyrinth of the pixies and fairies. She had felt some pain in all those incidents. They all had.

So did that mean it was real?

She stared at Ron, who was looking back at her with a smile. As more tears fell she felt him wipe them away. "You also have to remember that you're in a world full of magic, Mione. Anything is possible."

Hermione felt her grip on his clothes grow tighter as he leaned in on her, bringing their faces closer together. She closed her eyes as their lips connected and leaned into his figure letting, closing the gap between them. His lips were warm and soft and the way he held her made her feel as if nothing could ever hurt her again.

Until that day, Hermione had never felt more real


	12. Chapter 11: Shooting stars and Silent Pr...

Storybook Crisis 

By: Gemin16

Disclaimer: I think I forgot to mention this in the last chapter. Whoopsy. Oh well, yadda, yadda, yadda- don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to the Goddess J.K. Rowling. However Kitrina, Kalvin, Lady, and any other new character have been created by my sick little mind and therefore belong to me.

A/N: YES! YES! YES! YES! I'm finally done with Honors Expository! HEHE No more having to spend countless hours in front of the computer typing essays. Now I can spend more time on my fanfics and finish them! I'm free, I tell you free!

Ahem, okay now I'm finished babbling about useless nonsense. I'm really glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter, more Fluff up ahead for your enjoyment. Just thought I warn ya.

I was checking the number of reviews and I'm just one review away from reaching the 100-point mark. I would never had imagine that I would get this far with this fic and just to think that it started off as a mindless typing spree when I was sick. 

Ack! I'm being lazy again, instead of working chapter eleven, she's reading Silent Möbius  (A very good manga, I highly recommend). Okay I'm getting off track now……

Special thanks to:

Ferggirl99: I hope in book 5 he's slightly more grown up. He's 16 in this fic so maybe by book 6 he'll be exactly like this minus the arrow stuff. LOL. Ron's such a funny character. I was reading GOF and came across this little line:

" 'I still can't work out how you two got the best-looking girls in the year," muttered Dean.

"Animal magnetism," muttered Ron gloomily.' "

LOL, I just can't get enough of him.

Gilli, Rebecca Anne, Rukato Fan: Glad ya enjoyed it.

Pansy Potter: I was actually going to wait a while longer b4 they kissed, I was totally thinking I was maybe rushing things a bit but no one seemed to object.

Xodox: hehe

R&R Queen: Were you really waiting that long? Well hope this chapter was better than the last. LOL, it's reading reviews like yours that really cheer up my day.

ChaCha: Thanks for the compliment. Compared to my favorite ff.net authors I'm not very good but your compliment does boost my moral. ^_^

Addnap Nottap: To tell ya the truth that's how I really see stories. Their so perfect but since their mostly fiction, it hurts. That's how Hermione felt but Ron made it better didn't he.

Anyana: I'm honored.

Anywho keep on reviewing. As you can see I'm updating more often and there's most likely four chapters left. (I'm debating on something.)

Chapter 11: Shooting Stars and Silent Promises

***********************************************************************************************

"AND HE DID WHAT?" Kitrina asked literally nose to nose with Hermione.

"He kissed-"

Kitrina flew back laughing so hard, Hermione could have sworn she turned purple from the lack of oxygen.

"I don't see what's so funny?" Hermione said turning red.

Kitrina sat up, drying tears of joy from her eyes. "Nothing." _ Except for the fact that Harry owes me three Galleons. _She giggled and raised an eyebrow at Hermione. "So, Mione, how was it?"

Hermione blinked. "How was what?"

Kitrina had that weird looking grin on her face again. "You're first kiss. What else could I be talking about?"

"Kitrina-"

"Come on. I'm curious to know what its liked."

Hermione was shocked. "You mean-"

The vixen looked up and shrugged. "I've never been kissed. So what?"

"Well it's just that I would have assumed that since you-"

"That since I was over three hundred years old that I would have by now. Well your answer is no. So come on and spill."

Hermione's shad grew brighter as she remembered the seen, second by second. "It felt wonderful."

Kitrina sighed. "That's the only word you could come up with?"

"It's too hard to explain in words."

Kitrina laid her head in her hands. "If you say so." She thought quietly for a second and then an evil grin appeared on her face. 

Hermione paled. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh just wondering how long it will be before you take the next step?"

"KITRINA!"

WHAM 

~*~

_She was one of the last people I would think who would ever use a book like that_, Kitrina thought the next day as she rubbed her head.

"What happened to you?" Ron asked.

"Your girlfriend assaulted me with literature, that's what happened. For some odd reason when you kissed her you must have made her more violent." She said looking up at Ron. Her fox ears came out in fear. "Hey what are you going to do with your bow and arrows? Ron? Hey that's not funny; stop pointing in my direction! RON! HARRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

(A/N: I've been having a weird day so I took it out on poor Kitrina. She's not too happy with me at the moment.)

***

(The next day)

"Are you sure you have enough arrows?" Hermione asked Ron as they headed towards the competition area.

Ron looked at all the bundles he and Harry were carrying. "I'm sure we have enough, Mione."

"I'm sure eighty arrows should cover it," Harry said.

"The least they should do is provide the arrows for the competitors," Lisa said.

"Well they say the best arrows are the ones that you make yourself," Ron said. They reached the arena where people were gathering to watch the sport. In the center, a number of different targets sat and not to far away, many different archers sat gathering the needed arsenal and having them checked out by the officials. Over in the stands, waited Ron's family along with Remus and Sirius, who were waving over to the four friends.

"Wish me luck," Ron said. Hermione gave him a hug and Lisa wished him luck.

"Where's that other friend of yours?" Lisa asked. "Kitrina was it?" She had gotten the pleasure of meeting her two days ago.

Ron frowned. "If she's smart, she'll come after the competition."

Hermione crossed her arms. "I hoped you apologized to her. You nearly cut off her ponytail."

"She deserved it, no way I'm going to apologize to that loud mouthed vixen. Items or no items!"

Not to far away…….

"Achoo! Achoo! Excuse me."

"Are you catching a cold?" Kalvin asked as he slung his bow over his shoulder.

"No not really. I feel fine," Kitrina said adjusting the bundle of homemade arrows for Kalvin. Crookshanks was right behind her carrying a stray arrow that fell. "How come you never told me you were into archery?"

Kalvin shrugged it. "I don't know? It just never came up."

_I wonder how good he is?_ Kitrina thought to herself. Ever since that incident two days ago, they had been quiet towards each other. Kalvin was such a mystery to her. Why would someone be as silent and secluded as him?

_Even after what happened two days ago, she's still hanging around with me_, Kalvin thought to himself. _Why?_ Usually he didn't like the idea of hanging out with other people, he had always liked being a loner but he was actually having a nice time hanging out with Kitrina. She usually did all the talking but Kalvin found himself listening to her voice. 

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked her.

Kitrina looked up and thought. "Ummm, I guess I'm going to help my friend prepare for the ball and maybe just walk around with Crookshanks. I honestly don't know. Why?"

"Would you like to accompany me at the ball tomorrow?" He asked.

Kitrina's eyes lit up as she looked up at Kalvin, who was looking straight ahead, no hint of emotion on his face. "Sure," she said with a smile. They reached the center where all the other archers were. Kalvin laid down a bundle that he was carrying and took the one from Kitrina. Crookshanks dropped his arrow next to the bundle and meowed.

The human fox walked up in front of him. "I wish you all the luck I have to give. You know that, right?"  _Ron, you get the other twenty percent, Hermione and the others will be rooting you on all the way._

Kalvin looked down at her cheerful expression. A small smile appeared on his face. "Thank you."

She nodded and turned to walk away with Crookshanks following her. He meowed at her. "What do you mean, Master would wonder?"

"Meow."

"Now hold on a second, Crookshanks. My first and soul duty is to lead the gatherers to the item. I'll risk my life for that purpose alone, all for Master's sake. I can't let his items be used for evil."

"Meow."

Kitrina blushed. "What do you mean falling in love? I have no clue what you're talking about! He looked like he needed a friend, so I decided to be his friend."

"Meow."

"So what if I said he was the guy of my dreams. It doesn't mean a thing. I can't loose focus of my purpose. While I've been hanging out with him I have been keeping an eye out for opportunities to get the items too. But it's hard with all this energy around. I'm sure Voldemort is having trouble himself. He's been lying in the underground for so long it's hard to even imagine whether he's alive or not. I wonder if he knows something about the items that I don't?" She started to chew on her lip. "Master, you left me without answering so many of my questions. All you did was tell me my task." Tears welded up in her eyes. "Why couldn't I be with you?"

Crookshanks rubbed up against her leg and meowed again. Kitrina smiled as she wiped her arm across her face. "Thank you, Crookshanks. I guess you have it hard too, huh?" Crookshanks suddenly stopped and turned his head, nose moving up and down.

Kitrina stopped also and looked at her friend. "What's wrong?"

"Meow."

The vixen let out a giggle. "A rat? I swear, Crookshanks, you can be such a cat sometimes."

"Master has a mission for you."

Kalvin looked up to see Nott standing above him with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Pardon?"

"I said Master has a job for you."

"What is it and how much?"

Nott smiled an evil smile. "That little detail we'll figure out later."

Kalvin went back to getting his arrows ready for inspection. "If you don't tell me here and now I'll refuse."

"And if you don't' agree that girl will be in a lot of trouble at the hands of Master."

Kalvin's eyes harden as he stared back at Nott. "Leave her out of this!" he hissed.

_She's already in too deep_, Nott thought. _And I've found your weak spot._ "I won't unless you agree to our terms without any questions."

"Excuse me, sir, if you're not in the competition I'll have to ask you to leave," an official said as they walked up to examine Kalvin's arrows and bow. 

Nott looked at the official. "I was just about to." He turned to Kalvin. "We have a mutual agreement am I right?"

Kalvin just glared at him.

"Ready for another competition, Weasley?" Mr. Bagman asked as he examined Ron's arrows and bows.

"Yes, sir."

Bagman handed him his bow and looked at him. "Gryffindor will win this years tournament right? I made a small wager with a friend of mine."

"Can't make any promises," Ron mumbled. His father and brothers told him about Bagman's bad habit. _I wouldn't be surprised if he made any wages on this one too._

"Mr. Bagman, they need you at the box," another official said. Bagman looked at Ron and smiled. "Duty calls."

A moment later Bagman's voice could be heard all over the arena. "WELCOME TO THE THREE HUNDRED AND NINTY-SEVENTH ARCHERER COMPETITION. I'M YOUR HOST LUDO BAGMAN, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SPORTS AND GAMES HERE IN HOGSMEADE. I WELCOME ALL THAT HAVE COME FAR AND WIDE TO SEE JUST HOW AMAZING OUR YULE FESTIVAL CAN BE! NOW ON WITH THE TOURNAMENT. THIS YEAR'S COMEPETITORS COME FROM ALL OVER THE LAND TO COMPETE WITH HOGSMEADE'S HOMETOWN CHAMPIONS! FROM LEFT TO RIGHT-"

Hermione watched with Ron and Harry's family as Bagman announced the archers competing. There were about thirty in all, some of them were foreigners from the north or south of Hogsmeade. Many of them looked experienced and Harry said that some of them were acclaimed to be the best of their respective lands.

"YVETTE LAMAGE OF BEAUXBATONS!" A bunch of cheers came from the stands.

"She's one of the best female archers in the tournament," Harry told Hermione. "She also has some of the best odds."

"RONALD WEASLEY OF HOGSMEADE!" More cheers came from all around the arena as Bagman announced Ron's name.

"Of course my Ron is the best of them," Mrs. Weasley said clapping her hands.

"KALVIN ORCHIDE OF HOGSMEADE!" Even more cheers came out the crowds as Kalvin's name was announced.

"Ron's the best when you knock Kalvin out of the stands," George commented.

"Kalvin's that good?" Hermione asked.

"Good, he's won the competition three years in a row," Angelina commented.

"He's a strange fellow though," Fred said. "We've been in the same class since we could remember. He's always been so quiet and stayed to himself never really spoke unless he had to."

"Rumors spread around bout him," Katie said, "so not to many kids got near him unless they were forced."

"But Ron's improved since last years competition," Harry said. "So this year they might be in the same level."

"I've watched him practice," Hermione said. "He hasn't missed a target."

"All we have to do is wait and see," said Mr. Weasley as Bagman finished announcing the players.

"THE FIRST ROUND CONSISTS OF STABLE TARGETS. EACH COMPETITOR HAS SIX TARGETS IN FRONT OF THEM, WITH THE CLOSEST BEING FIFTEEN FEET AND THE FARTHEST BEING FOURTY FEET AWAY! THOSE WHO GET AT LEAST FIVE OUT OF SIX OF THEIR TARGETS WITHIN THE RED CIRCLE QUALIFY TO THE NEXT ROUND. ARCHERS GET YOUR BOWS READY-AND FIRE!"

Kitrina watched from the stands as more than three hundred arrows were let loose in a period of one minute. "These guys may be good," she commented to Crookshanks, "but some of them need better practice." True to her words many arrows strayed off of the course and landed themselves in the dirt. Crookshanks watched with curiosity and meowed.

Kitrina nodded. "Yeah, Kalvin and Ron are doing great. They're going to make it to the final round for sure! Just goes to show you I have a good taste in friends."

Crookshanks rolled his eyes.

As the officials examined the targets, Bagman made commentary on most of the archers. When he focused on Kalvin's achievements. Kalvin just rolled his eyes.

"You don't seem to like the spotlight much do you?" Ron asked him as he waxed his bow.

"No," Kalvin said flatly doing the same to his bow. 

_He's no Mr. Friendly is he?_ Ron thought dryly. He perked his ears up as he heard Bagman announce the one's to go onto the next round. 

Kalvin lifted an eyebrow as he heard Ron's whole family and friends cheer him on as his name was called. A few fireworks were shot up into the air.

"Fred, George, and Lee just love to over do it don't they?" Ron said to himself.

"Friends of yours?" Kalvin asked.

"My family and friends."

"Must be nice sometimes." Kalvin sighed inwardly. Why did he just ask that? He never really showed any interest in other people's lives until, well until-

He met Kitrina.

That girl was affecting him more than he would have liked her too.

"Yeah it is," Ron said. 

"Are they really worth it? Friends and family?" Kalvin asked.

Ron looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What's that supposed mean. Of course they're worth it."

"They can be used against you at any time especially if you have a dangerous enemy about. What about Voldemort? If he decided to go after you at any point, he could use one of them to his advantage. What would you do then?"

Ron flinched. What was this guy getting at? What the hell did he mean? Well what he said was true. That could happen at any point of Ron's lifetime. "Then you protect them with your life," Ron said.

"But is it really worth it? Loosing your life for others?"

"If their friendship is true, yeah it is. I mean, sure we get into fights but what friends don't have fights?" He remembered all the arguments that he, Harry, and Hermione had shared over the past few months and over the years. He and Harry had shared some pretty bad ones before but they came out all right in the end, better friends than before. Even he and Kitrina, who were usually at each other's throats and arguing all the time, got along in the end. He would sacrifice himself for his friends if necessary. "I don't know what I would do if I didn't have friends," he said.

Kalvin thought about what he said. He never really did have a friend until Kitrina started hanging around with him. Maybe friendship wasn't as bad as it seemed. He would have to give it a broader trial period but first he would half to figure out what Nott's demands were.

"WILL ALL ARCHERS THAT ARE CPOMPETING IN THE SECOND ROUND, READY YOUR MATERIALS."

"So what happens in the next round?" Lisa asked Harry. Hermione was curious too. Ron had told her that the second round consisted of moving targets but that was all he really told her. 

"In the second round, they let loose flying targets and the goal is to hit the most in the time limit that they give you. I think its something like three minutes that they give them." He pointed towards the field. "Look."

One official had five shaking boxes levitating in the air by a spell. He set them down and along with four others opened them up, realizing fifty golden balls that were the size of baseballs into the air. They flew everywhere like birds.

"By realizing so many they make it easier for them to be captured," Lisa said.

"No," Hermione said watching. "They realize a certain number so that it won't be too easy for them especially in such a large area like the arena. Their arrows have to be quick and aim perfect or the targets would dodge them. This is the part where the most arrows are used and wasted."

"Since when did you become such an expert?" Harry asked her.

Hermione smiled. "Well it's not that hard to figure out you know."

"Easy for you to say." They watched as one by one the remaining fifteen players took their chance at the targets. In the three minute period the most anyone had gotten so far was thirteen. It was really hard.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE NO ONE WAS ABLE TO BEAT THE RECORD SET BY VINCINT URID ALMOST TEN YEARS AGO," Bagman told the crowd. "LETS SEE IF OUR HOMETOWN ARCHER RONALD WEASLEY CAN BEAT TODAYS AVERAGE AS WELL AS TAKE A SHOT AT BEATING THE RECORD."

Ron gathered his quiver filled with arrows and stepped out into the field. He looked at the official who held a clock in her hand while lifting the other in the air. After ten seconds she dropped it down signaling for Ron to begin. Taking out his first arrow, Ron started shooting at the targets. His first two missed but the next three hit their target. Over the next two and a half minutes he concentrated on hitting his targets. This was his element, his forte, he was good and he knew it.

He didn't know how many he had shot down but when the official blew her whistle, Ron knew it was time for him to stop. He looked at his quiver, which only contained five arrows left. _Damn, I used up over forty of them_, he thought to himself.

The crowd went silent as another official counted the number of targets Ron shot up. He raised his wand up in the air with a rope coming out and forming itself in the shape of the number eighteen. The crowds went wild as Ron waved back towards his family and walked back to the side area.

"Not bad," Kalvin said to him. "Three more and you would have beaten the record."

"Yeah," Ron said. "Guess I'll try my luck in the next round."

"Perhaps." Kalvin stood up and grabbed his quivers.

"Ain't you being a little cocky there, partner?" A southern foreign archer asked as Kalvin walked towards the arena. "Only going in with thirty arrows. Be pretty embarrassing if you were to shoot all them arrows and not hit no more than half."

Kalvin didn't bother to turn back as he answered. "Well unlike you, at least I'm sure of my skill and talent."

The southerner growled as he snapped an arrow in half. "Arrogant son of a troll."

Ron watched as Kalvin went through the same process that he had gone through. He wanted to agree along with the southerner but as he watched as the older boy shoot his arrows he understood what he was doing. _Sure he's self assured but he wasn't just being cocky_, Ron thought, _he just knows his limits. By taking in the max amount of arrows that he has, he's making his back lighter and therefore making it easier for him to move around to aim at his targets._ Ron shook his head. _Where the heck did that come from? I've been hanging with Hermione way to long; I'm starting to think like her. The next thing I know I'll actually enjoy studying._ He was struck out of his thought as he heard the whistle being blown. After a minute the official's rope spelled out the number twenty-three. The crowd cheered as Kalvin walked back calmly. He didn't even bother to look at the southerner who was up next. His quiver held the remaining seven arrows.

"I'll beat your stupid record," he said as he stood up with his quiver and spit in Kalvin's direction. Kalvin didn't even bother to acknowledge it.

Ron watched as the southerner tried but he was concentrating on the amount that he was shooting instead of his targets. "That's what happens when you go into the competition angry," he heard Kalvin say. "Your arrows waver and you miss completely. I'll doubt he'll get within three arrows of your score."

He was right to, the southerner only got twelve but he was one of the top seven to go onto the next round, including Ron and Kalvin. Only one other person got farther than Ron, getting nineteen arrows.  As all the balls were collected again, Bagman went on explaining how they were going to try something new this year. Instead of an obstacle course they were going to use different set of moving targets. All he competitors watched as more balls were released but this time a few of them were painted a bright red.

"This type of course tests out their skills in aim more than anything," Hermione analyzed.

"They're going to have one hell of a time trying to shoot that," Kitrina said with Crookshanks agreeing. "YOU CAN DO IT, KALVIN. YOU TOO RON!"

Ron watched as the targets flew all over, the red only specks in the stream of yellow. Oh yeah, this was going to be hell.

~*~ 

(A/N: I didn't feel like boring you with the small details so I'll just get strait to the point)

"AND FIRST PLACE GOES TO KALVIN ORCHIDE, SECOND GOES TO RONALD WEASLEY, WITH THIRD GOING TO-"

"Well at least he got second," Hermione said as she stood up with the rest of the Weasleys when they called Ron's name.

"Kalvin is just way to good," Fred said with a shrug.

"There's always next year," Bill said.

Kitrina clapped her hands. "All those archers are real good, despite how hard it was most of them hit a red target." Crookshanks meowed. "Well that poor southerner didn't hit any at all, but at least Kalvin hit all ten of them. Proves how good he is!"

***

"How long does it take for women to get ready?" Ron asked impatiently. "They've been up there for almost an hour. The ball is going to start in less than an hour." He was wearing dark blue dress robes with black lining along the cuffs.

Mr. Weasley smiled. "You'll understand when your older, son. Trust me, you'll appreciate the time they spent getting themselves ready too."

Ron rolled his eyes and leaned back against his chair. "Sure." He looked at Collin, Ginny's partner, who waited patiently without complaining. _I honestly don't see how he could sit there and wait._

Upstairs, the girls were busy getting ready. Since she didn't want Ron to walk all the way to the castle, Hermione asked Ginny if she could get ready at her house along with Kitrina, who was going to do Hermione's hair.

"What do you think about this one?" Ginny asked as she held up a silver chain necklace with a ring in the middle. She was dressed in a purple robe with silver lining. Her hair was pulled up into a knot at the top of her head that Kitrina had done for her. "I borrowed it from Katie."

Kitrina looked at it and nodded. "That would match perfectly with your robe, Gin." She went back to her challenge at hand. What to do with Hermione's hair? In the past few days she designed it on a ponytail, half up/down, twist, a French braid, and now today of the Yule Ball she needed a new hair do. One that would go flawlessly with her periwinkle blue robes that looked perfectly good on her. She wanted Hermione to look just like the princess in a story that she had once heard. Finally deciding she took a comb and went at Hermione's hair.

"Ouch, Kitrina what are you doing? Trying to take all my hair apart?"

"You want to look good for Ron, right? SO BE PATIENT!" After a few minutes, and one more ouch from Hermione she was done.

Ginny gasped in amazement. "Hermione, wow!"

Kitrina smiled in satisfaction. "Oh yes I truly am a genius. Take a look, Mione."

Hermione stood up and looked in the mirror. Her eyes opened wide with amazement, Kitrina had truly outdone herself this time. Her hair was loose with just half of the fronts picked up with small silver clips. The pieces that weren't picked up shaped the sides of her face and the rest of her hair was let loose with some of it falling over her shoulder. She honestly couldn't recognize herself but sure enough it was her.

Kitrina smiled softly top herself. She could tell that Hermione had never done this type of thing before but that was what made it so much fun. It was like playing dress-up except for real. She stepped up behind Hermione and took a ribbon and wrapped it around her neck. Surprising the heck out of Hermione and almost choking her.

"Kitrina what are you doing?"

"Adding the finishing touch, Deary." She finished tying the ribbon in the back and turned to the front of Hermione. Kitrina sighed. "Forget genius, I'm a goddess. The perfect makeshift choker."

"And to think you nearly choked me to make it," Hermione said looking at herself and rubbing her neck. She had to admit that Kitrina was good. Hermione looked at the little vixen, who was fixing something in Ginny's hair. She was dressed in apple green robes and had only done her hair in a ponytail like always.

"Kitrina, aren't you going to do something with your hair?"

Kitrina thought for a second. "No."

Ginny frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I'm perfectly happy in a ponytail. Come on girls, there are two guys waiting for you downstairs and one whole night that's waiting to be explored. Lets go."

Hermione bent down and hugged Kitrina. "Thank you." Ginny nodded too. 

Kitrina smiled and winked at the two. "No problem, I have to work my genius on someone."

Hermione sighed. "Honestly, Kitrina, you have one of the biggest ego's I know."

Kitrina giggled as she ran down ahead of them. "Comes with the territory."

When Ron heard footsteps, he sighed. "It's about-oh its just you," he said as Kitrina came down first.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Arrow-boy!? I have you know that I personally have the key to make your whole night better. The both of you actually," she said to Collin.

Ron lifted an eyebrow. "Oh really and what would that be? Your one way ticket out of here?"

Kitrina rolled her eyes. "Haha very funny. Actually it's the two loveliest ladies in Hogsmeade and possibly the whole world! Come down girls."

Ron had to admit he wasn't prepared for what he saw, he stared wide-eyed as he saw Hermione walk down. When she saw the look on his face she turned a light shade of pink. Ginny smiled as Collin also looked at her with amazement. Kitrina smiled. She just loved the look shared between Ron and Hermione. _They're going to go stiff if they keep staring at each other like that_, she thought to herself. She looked at the clock and prepared to use one of her favorite tactics.

"OH MY GOSH!" she said snapping the couple out of their trance. "It's almost time for the ball to start you four need to hurry and get there. Now, now, shoo shoo." She pushed all of them out the door and waved them good-bye.

Mr. Weasley laughed as he watched Kitrina gather her cloak and prepared to leave. "No partner, Kitrina?"

Kitrina smiled. "No, Mr. Weasley, I don't have a partner but I do have someone waiting for me. I hope you and Mrs. Weasley have a nice time at the ball too." She walked out and into the street humming a favorite tune of hers.

Ron and Hermione walked in silence as they traveled down the streets of Hogsmeade. Decorations and fairies flew all over the place and lights of all kinds shone everywhere but best of all was the night sky, which was lit with thousands of stars. The moon was halfway full and it illuminated the ground with an eerie but almost romantic light.

Ron shot a glace at Hermione. She really did look beautiful. The best part was that she wasn't sad anymore, her eyes were bright and she was back to her usual self. He was about to open his mouth to say something when-.

"Hermione! Ron! Wait up!" They both turned around to see Harry and Lisa walking towards them. Harry was wearing light green robes that matched his eyes while Lisa had on garnet colored robes. 

"Wow you look lovely, Hermione!" Lisa exclaimed as she looked over at Hermione. 

"So do you," Hermione said. 

Harry smiled at Ron. "You look like your at a lost for words."

Ron stared at him. "Isn't it already bad enough that the vixen rubs it in."

"You have no idea," Harry said remembering the victory dance Kitrina did when she told Harry to pay up. _Every time I see her she does a victory dance,_ he thought to himself.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Harry mumbled.

Kitrina looked around the Leaky Cauldron for signs of Kalvin. Finally after standing on her tippy toes for almost five minutes she saw the dark figure in the corner. Dressed in black robes with silver lining, Kalvin sitting at a table. She frowned; it looked like he was brooding. She didn't like it when people were unhappy. Running over she smiled as she went up to her face. "Happy Yule to you!" she said cheerfully.

Kalvin looked up. He had to admit after the meeting with Nott, Kitrina was the last person he wanted to see but he couldn't avoid it. The request or demand that Nott gave him normally wouldn't have bothered Kalvin but for some odd reason, when he saw Kitrina, he knew that it was wrong but he couldn't refuse. He didn't want her to get hurt; he knew what kinds of things Voldemort and his horde did to people.

Kitrina blinked at him with wide eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" 

Kalvin looked down at her. "Nothing," he said. "Lets go." 

In the center of town a large stage was set up for the live music to play, thousands of witches and wizards dressed in their best evening robes were gathered there as well as all around the city. A few booths were left around selling flowers, charms, and all sorts of accessories to bystanders. People were chatting, laughing, dancing, and purely enjoying themselves. Kalvin wasn't one of those people, he had some question that he had to ask Kitrina and this wasn't one of the best places to discuss it. 

A fairy passed by them and landed on Kitrina's shoulder. She whispered something to Kitrina that made her giggle and flew off. 

"You don't see that everyday," Kalvin said.

Kitrina kept on giggling and looked at Kalvin. "You're not enjoying yourself much are you?"

Kalvin shrugged. "Actually, there's a place that I would like to take you to. Do you mind leaving the ball for a while?"

"Sure!"

Kalvin offered her his arm while he tool out his wand. "Grab a hold then." Kitrina did as she was told and they apparated away.

"You can see the whole city from here," Kitrina exclaimed as she stood with Kalvin on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in Hogsmeade. The city looked even more beautiful with the lights forming patterns along the streets along with the streaks of the pixies and fairies. "You really know some of the best places in the city."

Kalvin frowned. The only reason he knew of this place was because he once had to steal an artifact for someone. He sat down with Kitrina sitting down next to him. "Thank you for taking me here."

"Welcome."

They sat there for almost five minutes in silence until Kalvin finally decided on what he wanted to say.

"Kitrina." 

That got her attention immediately. Kalvin never once said her name, not that it had bothered her but it was definitely worth listening to if he did. "Yes?" she asked.

"Why do you hang out with me? It's obvious that you have other friends. Why spend the festival with someone like me when you can have a better time with other people?"

Kitrina smiled and circled her arms around her legs. "But I am having a better time with you. I like to spend my time with you because you're interesting, smart, and nice."

"No I'm not."

"Sure you're a little antisocial but from what I've seen you are. What makes you say something like that?"

"If you were to examine all the things that I've done, you would realize that I'm not nice at all."

Kitrina looked at him, he looked so serious with that grim look on his face. But when the wind tussled his curls around like that, she just didn't see him as an incredibly mean person. She knew that he had a rough childhood and that he didn't have many if at all any friends but she could tell that deep down inside he was a nice guy. 

"Sometimes you need to look beyond that," she said looking forward at the city. "Sometimes people do what they do because they're lost. They're afraid of the feelings that are inside of them or maybe because something happened to them to make them turn out like that. To truly understand who a person is you just have to look beyond what they may seem on the outside and give them a chance. That's how I see it anyways."

_She's different from most people I've seen_, Kalvin thought to himself. _Especially if she's willing to give people a chance like that. That's a big risk and if she keeps taking that risk with me she'll get hurt._

"Kalvin, what's the nicest thing you've done recently? Something that some people wouldn't do ordinarily or something that you wouldn't do ordinarily."

"I saved a fox a few weeks ago or at least I thought I did. I don't know."

Kitrina's eyes opened wide. "Oh really."

"I don't know why I did. It was fighting against a wolf to protect two people. It didn't look like it was going to win, especially since the wolf was much bigger than it was. At first I thought it was stupid, that it would risk its life like that even if the odds were against it but then I just thought of how I couldn't let it die so I scared the wolf away. The people it was protecting took it to the city to get it healed but I don't know if it survived. I doubt you could call it nice or not. Maybe I should have let nature take its course."

Kitrina was glad it was dark, so then Kalvin couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. "You stepped in to save her, didn't you? I would call that nice."

"But that was just one little thing that I did. Trust me, I'm not nice." _I have a person who helps me commit crimes against her own will. I kill. I steal. I do all this for money and for my own boredom. I'll never be a kind person like you, there's no turning back for me._  He was knocked out of his introspection when he felt something lean against him. It was Kitrina.

_He's warm_, she thought to herself. "Despite what you think, I still think you're nice. I'll be here when you need me." _That's a promise._

Kalvin looked down at her and slowly put his arm around her to protect her from the cold wind and maybe to reassure himself.

If someone were to go to Hermione almost a year ago and ask her if she could ever imagine herself at a ball with a date having fun, she would have rolled her eyes and ignored them or laughed. 

But if you were to ask her now, she would have smiled and said yes and also say that she lived a night like that.

As the last dance finish, she and Ron pulled away Ron each other slowly and looked up at the stage where they were getting ready to put another band on. Ron looked at Hermione. "Care to go for a walk?"

Hermione nodded. "Alright." 

Harry smiled to himself as he watched the couple walk away. "Don't they make a great couple?" Lisa asked him, knowing what he was looking at. 

"Yeah, they do." He knew how much Ron liked Hermione and was glad that she liked him just as much back. 

"So what were you saying about Ravenclaw getting their butts kicked by Gryffindor this year?" Lisa asked, completely changing the subject.

"Um-er, well you know they are," Harry said knowing where this conversation was going to get them too.

Lisa pushed his glasses back up his nose. "We'll see about that," she said, smiling.

The only area that wasn't crowded by people was the pathway leading to the forest. Dimmed by the faintest of lights, and surrounded by a blanket of trees where only a small section of stars and the moon could be seen, it was obvious why the place was so remote. Hermione wondered how Ron knew about it.

"No point in standing around when nothings happening," he said filling in the void of silence.

"I agree," Hermione said.

"You know you look really beautiful tonight."

Hermione blushed. She really wasn't expecting that. "Th-thank you."

Ron looked up at the trees, trying to hide his own blush. She really did look beautiful with the pale moonlight illuminating on her like it was. Despite the fact that she sometimes acted like a know-it-all, completely stubborn, and too rule crazy and scholarly for her own good, she really wasn't all that bad. He found himself liking her more and more ever since- well he didn't know. 

"How do you like it here anyway?" he asked. For some odd reason the thought came across his head.

"Paradise," Hermione said barely above a whisper.

"Pardon?"

"It's paradise," Hermione said. "I never really thought that such a world could exist. Despite all the misfortune that's happen I still can't help but think to myself that this really is the world of my dreams, almost heaven."

"You honestly see it that way."

"There's no other way for me to see it. In my own world people could only experience things like this in their own imaginations. I would read book after book just to catch a glimpse of what this feeling is and know I'm experiencing it for real. And its not just the rushing feeling of being able to use magic and see mystical creatures, its just that in this world I'm a completely different person." While she was talking they stopped by a large rock. Hermione leaned against it and stared up into the night.

"You mean you weren't always weren't always this all knowing person?" Ron said with a laugh, the look Hermione gave him only made him laugh harder.

"I wasn't talking about that," Hermione said. "Back home, I never really had to many friends. I rarely stepped out of the house except to go to school and to the library, I always studied never thinking that anything else was important."

"I've seen you when you're in that mode, I'm surprise you even remember to breath."

"It was people like you I was trying to avoid," Hermione said wryly.

"I have you know that people such as myself make the world go round." Now it was Hermione's turn to laugh. Tears were coming from her eyes and soon she was sniffing.

"You're not getting depressed again I hope?" Ron asked quickly when he heard the first sniff.

"N-no, I'm not," she said whipping her eyes. "It's just that the last time I felt this happy was when I, well I can't quite remember." She leaned next to Ron, not knowing why. It was just comforting knowing that he was there, right now, making her world complete. It was all she needed at the moment.

Forget about Voldemort.

Forget about the items.

Forget that she really wasn't apart of this world or in a book.

Forget all the years of being alone.

Just concentrate on the kiss he was giving to her now.

And as they leaned into each other, a lone shooting star traveled across the black night sky. 


	13. Chapter 12: Sacrifice

Storybook Crisis 

By: Gemin16

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter people. As much as I would love to own the wonderful characters that Daniel, Rupert, and Emma play I just don't. They all belong to J.K. Rowling. However all characters such as Kitrina, Kalvin, and Lady, I do own.

A/N: I have two things to say-

1.) I know I shouldn't do this but could some of you please take a look at my other fic, Triple the Trouble, Triple the Fun? Please? I would so appreciate it. Thank you.

And for number 2:

OH MY GOD! Rupert is just so cute and so is Daniel (did I spell that right?). You guys know what I'm talking about right?

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

I just finished watching it and I was very impressed as well as disappointed. Don't get me wrong; the movie was brilliant, definitely met to its standards but- but-

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (Don't read next few lines if ya don't want the movie spoiled for ya- oh hell what am I saying it's like the book, well sort of)

Tom Riddle could have been more handsome you know.

And Ginny could have had a few more speaking parts

No Deathday party

Hermione hugs Harry but doesn't even bother to hug Ron HOWEVER the little look they gave each other was soooo adorable!

And worst of all THE QUIDDITCH GAME WAS CUTE SHORT! (I'm a very big Quidditch fan)

Besides that the movie was ABSOTIVELY WONDERFUL, WELL MADE, BRILLIANT, FUNNY, FULL OF NON STOP ACTION (kinda), AND KICKED ASS! 

Okay that's really all I have to say now.

Thanks for reviewing:

Potter For Potter, Xodox, gillian:

_R/Hr Fan_: Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy Kitrina so much. She's so energetic and open with her feelings that I wish I could be just like her. I have to admit it was really fun getting your reviews. They really cheered me up at school. LOL, I would turn on the cpu during math and check my mail only to see your review and I would all of a sudden start laughing in the middle of class and everyone would stare at me. LOL, I loved it. Thanks again.

_Drama Princess87_: *giggles* That's right so what will happen at the end?

_Adnap Nottap: _Maybe he will, I'll let you decide.

_Ferggirl99:_ YEAH! Kitrina finally gets through to Kalvin. I loved writing that part with all my heart. It was probably my favorite seen besides the part where Hermione and Ron kiss for the first time. They both play such an important part. J As for Ron, me and you are always talking about him. He was soo cute in the movie. (Drools over Rupert) my cousin gave me weird looks as I swooned over him. But of course he's not as cute as Orlando Bloom! ^_~

Vaneesa: LUCKY # 100. YEAH! Thank you very much. AU's are hard to write sometimes but I LOVE THEM WITH ALL MY HEART!

That's all she wrote for now. On with the tale!

(one tiny little detail for you all): This chapter was **_VERY_** hard to write!

Chapter 12: Sacrifice

***********************************************************************************************

"Kitrina?" 

The vixen looked up from her sitting position on Hermione's bed. "Yes?"

"We only have three more items to find."

"I know that."

"When are we going to find them?"

Kitrina thought for a moment. "Well you see I have some sense as to where two of them are, but-"

"But what?"

Kitrina shrugged as she looked out the window. The festival was over and all the festivities had stopped. The streets were back to normal with everyone back to their normal business. Owls and brooms flew, wizards worked, children learned, and the once lovely break was over with. Which meant, finding the items once more.

Kitrina sighed as she looked out the window. The sky was so gray and cloudy, like something was about to happen. It sent shivers up her spine. What did it mean? 

"Lets do a quick check list of what's happened so far," she suggested shaking the thought out of her head.

"Fine by me," Hermione said as she finished up some history homework. "First item."

"Voldemort."

"Second item."

"The pendant, which is right here." Kitrina pulled it out of Hermione's desk and held it up. It was a garnet color in the middle surrounded by a bronze lining and dangled from a chain of bronze. It glowed softly as she held it.

"How does it work anyway?"

Kitrina shrugged again. "All I know is that it takes a great amount of strength to use it. To tell you the truth all the items were made before I was born. Master had already hidden them before I could even begin to remember. The only reason I know about them is because he told me about them and that it was my mission to make sure that they don't fall into the wrong hands. Like I said before I know who has an item but I'm not exactly sure who has what."

"But you were right about the gourd."

Kitrina winked at Hermione. "I told you I had some of the best luck!"

Hermione sighed not really surprised. "Well we have the gourd."

"Right here. So that's two for us, one for old Voldy. Three more to go."

"And we've visited the giants, the goblins, and the pixies and fairies leaving-"

"The alliances of the mermaids and dwarves along with the unicorns and centaurs, and then the humans."

"Who should we confront first?"

Kitrina thought for a moment. _It would be best to go after the item that the unicorns and centaurs have, because of their secrecy. They live away from humans so- It would be best, we have to get the most critical before Voldemort does. _She looked at the scar on her arm, _if we don't, then a permanent scar will be put upon this world._

_And his name is Voldemort._

***

**_"You will do this, Kalvin, or the girl will get it!"_**

Kalvin frowned as he gathered his gear together.

**"We have our best spy watching her as we speak. One simple message and it's the end of her very life."**

His grip tightened on his wand.

**"We have two task for you to do."**

He motioned for Lady to follow him out the door.

**"Exactly like the mission at Gringotts. All we need you to do-"**

_But to do something like this_, Kalvin thought. Then he remembered everything that Kitrina had taught him. About life, about friendship, even about his own self.

_I'm going against everything she taught me_, he thought gravely. He looked at Lady, the woman who had been at his side since he was only a toddler. _If there's one positive thing that's coming out of this, Lady will be released for good. I only need you for these last two missions, and this time I'm handling all the dirty work. If someone's hands are to be stained, it would only be right if they are my own. _

He looked beyond the city and into the forest and began walking.

Kitrina……………………

I truly am sorry.

***

"Of all the days to land a detention," Hermione mumbled as she read the note Hedwig had sent her.

"What did those two do now?" Kitrina asked, peeved yet slightly amused.

"They were messing around with fake wands during Potions. When one of their wands gave a loud croak they were caught in the act. They won't be out till five-thirty. I swear, of all the immature things to do, especially when we're on the look for the items. Kitrina, are you sure we need those two?"

Kitrina nodded her head. "Team work is the key to everything, Mione. Through the three items, you've each put in your own efforts but you've done it together. That's the trick. Hermione, if we don't who knows what could happen."

Hermione sighed softly. "You're right."

Kitrina laughed. "Of course I am."

Hermione shook her head and went back to her work. She heard Kitrina give a content sigh as she leaned on the windowsill and begin a conversation with Hedwig.

After a few hoots and squeak, Kitrina laughed. 

"Yes, Hedwig. The question is why do I bother?"

"Hoot."

"True, true. You want to know something interesting?" Kitrina asked the owl, her voice getting louder by the word, "if I wanted someone to do this alone I would have chosen one person to do it. But noooooo I wanted a group to do the job and of all the people I chose-"

Hermione braced herself. Who could only imagine what Kitrina would say?

"I couldn't have chosen a better trio then those three. Master would be proud."

Hermione smiled.

***

"I would like to know," Kitrina said loudly as they walked the streets of Hogsmeade, "how messing around with fake wands could keep you in detention for three and a half hours? Two hours I could understand, but three and a half? Three hours? Let's see what could I have done in three hours, I could have slept, eat, read, in Hermione's case: study. Ummmm-"

"You don't have to rub it in," Harry said dryly.

"Besides it was Snape, what else would you expect?" Ron added in.

"Excuses, excuses," Kitrina said waving her hand back and forth. Hermione had to cover her mouth to suppress her giggles. Of course the look Ron was giving Kitrina didn't help at all.

"So you know where the next item could be?" Harry asked her.

"Not could. I **know** where it is."

"So where are we heading to?" Ron asked her.

"The forest of course."

"Then maybe you should let me get my gear-"

"No," Kitrina said quickly, her voice more tense than usual.

"But what if a pocket comes by?" Harry asked.

Kitrina whipped around. "Then we'll have to risk it. Listen I don't know why but we have to hurry. I don't know why but something just doesn't feel right, we can't waste anymore time. If we do Voldemort could be one step closer to getting what he wants. The unicorns have a powerful item, they must, and in fact they might have to most powerful item that Master ever made. If we don't get this one item, then we might as well loose all hope."

"What is the most powerful item that Merlin created?" Hermione asked.

Kitrina thought as they quickened their pace. "It's called the Holy Sorcerer's Stone."

All three teenagers looked confused. "The Holy Sorcerer's Stone?" Hermione asked. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Very few have," Kitrina said. "I'm not exactly sure of its powers but I know for sure that it exceeds that of the Sorcerer's Stone. Master is the only one to ever create one." Kitrina's eyes opened wide as she stopped flat, making Harry, Ron, and Hermione bump into her.

"Kitrina, what's wrong?" Harry asked quickly.

"The item, lets hurry!"

***

"Sir, here's your towel."

"Thank you, Lady," Kalvin said as he frantically washed his hands. They were still stained or at least they still felt stained with the essence of-

He shook his head. It was over with so and there was nothing to do to change what he done.

Kalvin looked at the item covered with a cloth. What could be so important about something this small? If Voldemort wanted it so bad why didn't he get it himself?

Kalvin blinked. Another first. He never questioned client's motives; all that mattered was that he got paid in the end.

But Kalvin was changing, slowly but surely he was changing and Kitrina was getting to him even more.

And he wanted answers.

***

"We're almost there!" Kitrina said running ahead of the rest.

"Kitrina wait up!" Hermione called.

"Something must be wrong," Ron said.

"What makes you say that?" Harry asked him.

"It's way too quiet."

"What's way to quiet?" Hermione asked.

"The forest. Even though its almost nightfall, it's still to silent. No birds, no trolls, no sound at all. Something has to be very wrong for it to get this quiet."

"Then lets catch up to Kitrina," Harry said as they kept on running. They saw Kitrina running faster ahead of them, through clearings and jumping over branches like she was in a triathlon. 

Almost three minutes later, she disappeared all together.

"Kitrina!"

All three of them stopped dead in their tracks and stared at what lied in front of them.

"We were to late!" Kitrina said bending over, tears in her eyes.

"Oh my," Hermione said covering her mouth.

"Why?" Ron said angrily.

"I can't believe they would go as far as this," Harry growled.

A pool of silver-blue blood surrounded the heather bushes as one lone arrow stuck out of the body of a shredded and dead baby unicorn. Kitrina bent over it, crying and hitting the ground with her fist. "We were to damn late! We-were-to-," her shoulders were shaking with every sob.

Hermione looked at the blood and then at the unicorn. It was a golden color, showing obvious signs of youth and innocence. What a sad picture it made. 

All of a sudden they heard a step from behind. Harry, Hermione, and Ron, took out their wands quickly prepared to defend themselves when Kitrina spoke up. "It's alright- it's just a centaur, Frienze if I'm correct." True to her word a centaur stepped through the thicket and looked at the four humans. He had brilliant white hair and a palomino body and stared at them with crystal ice eyes. 

"You're too late."

"No s-" Ron started to say but Hermione elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"When, Frienze?" Kitrina asked standing up, she was shaking, more disturbed than any of them.

"Almost an our ago." All of a sudden a unicorn turned up behind him, pure white with sad blue eyes. It gave a small whine.

"It's my fault," Kitrina said looking directly into the unicorn's eyes. "I should have tried harder to find you but it was just that   I-" More tears poured from her eyes.

"Kitrina," Harry said slowly. All three of them stood back, knowing they shouldn't get into the conversation with the look the unicorn gave them. The unicorn gave a neigh and shook its head.

"He said that somehow the enemy knew the item was with the young foal. The last items are next on their list."

"What was your item?" Kitrina asked. 

Frienze stood quiet for a while. Finally he answered. "It was Excalibur's Hilt."

Kitrina looked at him with wide eyes and sunk to the ground, still in shock. "You mean- the Holy Sorcerer's Stone isn't with you? But- but- Master trusted you the most of all the creatures. Who could he have possibly left it with?"

"Someone whom he trust more than anyone if they hold that item."

Ron cocked his head to the left suddenly with Harry doing the same. "What's the matter?" Hermione whispered to them.

"Did you hear something?" Ron asked Harry.

"Sure did."

Kitrina whipped her eyes. "I'm truly sorry what has happened here," she said bending her head low.

The unicorn neighed again making Kitrina wince. She looked at Frienze and the unicorn with hard black eyes. "I swear to you that I will catch whoever did this and make them pay! Anyone who kills something as innocent as a unicorn, especially a baby, should never be forgiven!"

Frienze nodded his head and left along with the unicorn. The four people left stood in silence for a few seconds until Harry took a step closer to Kitrina.

"Kitrina, we're sorry, it's all our fault because we got deten-"

"No, Harry, it's my fault for not trying harder to locate it. I could have searched a lot harder but I didn't. I failed to get here before Voldemort did and an innocent being was killed. IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" Tears started to fall again. Hermione had never seen Kitrina cry like that, in fact she had never seen the vixen cry at all. She almost looked like a little girl, lost and scared.

"No it's-" But Kitrina transformed into her fox body, stopping all conversation.

***

Kalvin looked at Nott as he handed him the item. He looked at the Deatheater with all the coldness he could muster.

Nott laughed. "Why the cold face, Kalvin?"

"Why do you want with these items? What importance do they hold with Voldemort?"

"Why are you asking questions now, boy? You never did before?"

"Because after killing a unicorn it allows me the immediate privilege of asking."

Nott's smirk was harder than any rock or metal. "Master wouldn't agree, but I'm sure if you confront him, he'll answer all your demands after he takes care of the girl."

Kalvin's hand reached out and pushed Nott against the wall they were standing next to. His hand pressed hard against Nott's chest pushing him closer with the wall. Nott's eyes widened in fear, he had never seen the mercenary this serious or look this deadly.

Kalvin's voice was even more lethal as he pushed Nott harder. "If you lay one finger on her before I get this next item, I will personally seek you out and kill you slowly with the most deadly and painful method I can think of." He let go and walked away.

Nott slid down to the floor and stared after Kalvin. "You will not get away with this, Mercenary," he said with a bitter voice.

***

Kalvin walked the streets of Hogsmeade, a cold wind blowing his robes and cloak around. There was truly no going back for him he had killed a unicorn. A baby for that matter. The ultimate crime had been committed and he had been and he was as guilty as they come. 

What would Kitrina say at a time like this?

He knew she definitely wouldn't smile never the less laugh. He liked her laugh; it was airy and childish and full of life. It gave him a feeling that he never felt before. 

He recalled a conversation that he and Kitrina had during the final days of the festivals.

**"How can you stay so cheerful?" Kalvin found himself asking her.**

**Kitrina thought for a moment. "Honestly I don't know. Maybe it's because I think of all the things that make me feel happy."**

**"What kinds of things make you happy?"**

**"Sunflowers, smiles, funny things, love- all those things. Just the little things in life. After a while you start to appreciate them more and more." She smiled. "And whenever you're sad, you think of them and everything turns out for the better, that's the way I see most of the time."**

**"What if you can't?" Kalvin asked.**

**Kitrina grabbed his arm and hugged it close, leaning her head on it. "Then you find someone who can."**

"She'll never be able to rely on me," Kalvin said softly to himself. "I can never take away her sadness because I'll create it." His heart felt heavy and he found himself truly regretting his actions. "Let's just hope that tomorrow I won't have to kill anyone."

~*~

Kitrina hugged her body as she felt a cold wind pass by. She couldn't let another person die because she couldn't get Hermione, Ron, or Harry to the item to achieve it. It was her job to help them find it and their job to pass the task to get the item. 

But today an innocent was killed.

And that hurt Kitrina more than anything. Her heart felt heavy and she was angry with herself for what happened. If she could only turn back the threads of time to stop whoever did that from doing it. She would have gladly switched places with the unicorn at anytime.

Kitrina sighed as she passed by the crowds. She just wanted to sit down and cry at that moment but she felt as if she had no more tears to shed. The vixen shook her head. 

"No! No! No!" she said to herself. She felt drops of water falling on her head. "I have to keep looking forward! Two more items and then it will be all over! Master is counting on me. I can do it I know I can!" But tears began to fall again as it started to rain.

Can I do it?

Her heart hurt and at that moment there were only two people that she wanted to comfort her.

One of them was her creator. Merlin.

And the second one was Kalvin.

~*~

Little did Kalvin and Kitrina know that at the very moment that they were thinking about each other, they passed each other's path.

***

"It's really pouring out there," Sirius observed from inside the house that he, Remus, and Harry shared.

"Kitrina's out there right now," Hermione said as Remus served her a bowl of hot vegetable soup. "I hope she comes in soon."

"She's really talking it hard," Harry said.

"It wasn't her fault," Ron said though. "Me and Harry were late from detention. If we were only-"

"Stop it," Remus told them. "You'll only start regretting it yourself."

"Besides you two didn't know that we were going to go after an item," Hermione said.

"But still-" Harry said.

At that very moment a scratching noise was heard at the door. Sirius opened it slowly and in came the dripping wet figure of a small brown vixen. Everyone stood up but Kitrina just stood there at the entrance and looked at the group with sad black eyes. She shook all the excess water off of her body and walked to a small pile of old clothing that sat in the corner. Plopping herself right there she curled up into a ball and laid there.

After a few minutes when everyone had gone back to eating, Hermione spoke up. "Kitrina?"

Sirius bent over the form and looked at it. "She's fast asleep."

Remus went to the cupboard and took out an old blanket. "Put this over her body. She catch a death of cold if she stays wet."

Sirius took the blanket and put over Kitrina's sleeping form. He sighed as he sat back down. "She looked really worn out," he said.

"We need to find that next item," Harry said.

"What choices are left?" Remus asked. 

"The alliance between the dwarves and the merpeople and the humans," Hermione said.

Sirius thought for a second. "I bet you anything the item will be at the lake in the outskirts of town and between the mountain plains. Merpeople are said to live there and if I were Merlin I would hide an item there. As for the item that we supposedly have, I would have no clue where to find that."

"Well head to the lake tomorrow," Harry said. "We don't have any school tomorrow making it a good day to try and find."

"We'll go with you, just incase that person who found the last item is there," Remus said.

"It's better that we go tomorrow and get the item before He does," Hermione said. "By the way Kitrina was sounding about this Holy Sorcerer's Stone, we have to find it right away." The others nodded.

***

The next day was colder than the last. Hermione shivered as she tightened the cloak around her body. They were almost to the pond with Sirius and Remus leading. Kitrina and Ron stood beside her while Harry was in the middle. All with serious expressions as they thought about what lay at hand. 

"The season's about to change," Ron observed.

Hermione eyes opened wide as she remembered the prophecy that Linali gave her about her quest. 

It will end before the season changes. 

"You alright, Hermione?" Kitrina asked her. "You looked like you were in a trance or something." 

"I was just thinking about the weather," Hermione said smiling. After a nights rest, Kitrina looked better than yesterday although her smile wasn't quite as bright as it could be. "Cheer up!" Hermione found herself saying to the vixen.

Kitrina's smile lit up. "I will, we'll get the next item for sure I know it!"

"About five more minutes and we're there," Remus told them.

***

Kalvin spat out the gillyweed as he came out of the lake and put the item on the ground. He had done it. He had gotten he last item without resulting in the painful death of a creature. It wasn't easy and he had to admit that his normal procedure would have called for the death of countless numbers of creatures but-

It felt good to have spared their lives.

_Maybe Kitrina would smile at this_, he thought to himself with a smile. Instead of killing the number of dwarves that stood at the entrance he had Lady put them all to sleep with a difficult spell that put a group to sleep at once. As for the merpeople, it took a lot of effort and many stabs from his dagger to stop them from stopping him from retrieving the item. He found it, some way or another he had found it. It may have taken him about five hours but it had been worth it. Kitrina's life was out of danger.

"Here you go, Sir," Lady said leaning down to hand him a blanket.

"Thank you," he said.

"Good job, Kalvin."

Kalvin's eyes lit up as he looked forward only to see the figure of Nott standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I came to make sure you had retrieved the item safely and I wanted to get it to Master quickly so that I can be praised for doing a job well done."

"Yeah right and I'm Albus Dumbledore," Kalvin said standing up. "Lady, how long has he been here."

"Since you went into the lake, sir." Kalvin noticed a small burning light of hatred in her eyes. He almost felt like smiling, so she felt the same amount of hatred that he did for the man.

Nott smirked. "Once you give me the item, our contract is over. So why don't you do it."

"Here's your damn item," Kalvin said tossing it to him. As he did so, sounds came traveling to their ears.

~*~

"We're here!" Kitrina said jumping ahead of them. All of a sudden she stopped as she saw the item fly through the air and land in an old man's hand.

_It's the time turner!_ She thought to herself excitingly. She looked ahead of the man to see a lady in her late thirties standing next to- Kitrina gasped as she saw the person standing next to Lady.

Her black eyes opened in shock.

"Kalvin?!"

~*~

"Kitrina?!"

Kalvin had never been so surprised in his life. Kitrina was the last person he would have ever expected to stumble upon them.

"What are you doing here?!" They asked each other.

Nott smirked as he whipped out his wand without any of them noticing.

The others walked in to also be surprised by the presence of the other three.

"Looks like we came at just the right time," Harry said.

"So these are You-Know-Who's goons," Ron stated. He did a double take as he saw Kalvin. "Kalvin Orchide!?"

"They have the item!" Hermione said pointing at Nott's hand.

Remus and Sirius stared in shock as they looked at Lady.

"Rosaline?" They both managed to sputter out. Lady's eyes flickered as she heard the name.

Nott pointed his wand at everyone. "No body move or I'll destroy the item!" He pointed the wand at the time turner.

"No!" Kitrina yelled.

"Drop your wands! Everyone!" They all did as they were told except for Lady and Kalvin who had theirs sitting somewhere else where Nott could see them. 

Kalvin motioned for Lady to move slowly to the right towards their things as he looked at Nott. "What are you and Voldemort going to do with those things anyway, Nott?"

Nott laughed. "They're the key to his lord taking over this land and becoming King of all Wizards and Witches! Merlin's items will bring us all to the top!"

"Master's items weren't created for evil!" Kitrina yelled taking a step towards Nott. 

_Master?_ Kalvin thought looking at her.

"Keep quiet and don't move unless you want your precious Master's item destroyed!" Nott turned back towards Kalvin, not noticing Lady moving closer to their things. "Unfortunately for us some of them were more difficult to get than others. That's why we had you do most of the dirty work for us. What better way to get them by using a mercenary who would kill and steal all for a few bits of galleons."

Everyone looked at Kalvin, who looked straight at Nott.

"It was you who stole the item at Gringotts?" Hermione asked. Kalvin nodded his head.

Kitrina looked at Kalvin. "And it was you who killed the unicorn?" Harry asked. Kalvin nodded again looking at them but when he saw the hurt look in Kitrina's eyes he had to turn away.

"How?" was all that she could say.

Hermione watched as she saw Kitrina's expression. It was obvious that they knew each other but from where? By the hurt look in Kitrina's eyes Hermione wondered if- realization grasped at her mind.

He was the guy that Kitrina had told her about!

Nott laughed as he watched Kalvin's expression. Now that he had the item all he had to do was kill them and get back to his master who was waiting. 

Kalvin noticed that Nott was distracted. "Now!" he yelled to Lady. Nott came back to reality as he saw her throw something at Kalvin. It was a wand.

"YOU BITCH! _SHOCKFIGURAS!_" he yelled shocking Lady with a spell. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Sirius caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Lady!" Kalvin shouted.

"Is she alright?" Remus asked Sirius as he knelt down next to his friend. Hermione ran over to them also.

"She's unconscious but she's alive," Sirius said looking at Nott with a perilous stare. Nott ignored it.

"I should have been watching," he said to himself cursing like mad. He turned to Kalvin but it was too late.

"_Accio Item!_" The time turner came flying towards him and he caught it with ease. He looked at the crowd standing in front of him. "Ron, catch!" He threw it towards Ron, who caught it. Kalvin looked back at Nott with a smile of triumph on his face.

Nott was furious. "You traitor! You will pay for this!" Nott turned and pointed his wand straight at Kitrina.

Kalvin's heart stopped and he ran straight for her.

"AVA-"

He thought of all the things that he and Kitrina did together.

"DA-"

Of all the lessons she taught him about life, friendship, and fun.

"KE-"

Of her smile and her laugh and how happy she had been when he was with her. He had never felt this way for anyone in his life before. It felt great it and Kalvin wouldn't trade it for the world.

"DAV-"

He thought back to the conversation that he and Ron had shared.

"They can be used against you at any time especially if you have a dangerous enemy about. What about Voldemort? If he decided to go after you at any point, he could use one of them to his advantage. What would you do then?"

"Then you protect them with your life," Ron said.

****

_Then you protect them with your life, _he thought as he wrapped his arms around Kitrina's body. _I'll protect you because- _

_Because-_

"I love you," he said softly to her.

"RA!"

Hermione watched as a bright light illuminated from Nott's wand.  "Kitrina!" 

Once it had died down all they could see was Kalvin's body covering hers. Hermione and Remus ran for them as Harry and Ron grabbed their wands and pointed them at Nott.

_"Expelliarmus!"_ They both yelled at once. Nott took the full force of it and went unconscious.

Hermione fell down next to Kitrina who was already up and trying to lift Kalvin's body up. Hermione helped her but they already knew the verdict.

"He took the blast that was aimed for Kitrina," Remus said softly.

"He saved her," Harry stated.

"I've never seen anyone run so fast," Ron admitted.

Hermione looked at Kitrina who had Kalvin's head on her thighs. "Kitrina?" she asked, touching the girl's arm.

"He can't be-" she said, barely audible.

"But he is-" Remus said pulling her away form the body. Kitrina tried to pull away from him but he held her tight.

"But he just can't be!" Tears were pouring from her eyes as she looked at him. She remembered his last words.

I love you.

"KALVIN! NOOOOOOOO!" she cried as she buried her face into Remus's robes. 

Hermione looked at Kalvin's determined expression and covered her mouth. She felt Ron help pick her up and pull her away from the body. Everyone was silent and the only thing that could be heard was Kitrina's sobs. It was as if everyone was reflecting on Kalvin's move.

For Kalvin, the mercenary wizard, a boy who had a hart filled with pain and emptiness………………..

Had sacrificed himself for the one and only friend he had ever had.


	14. Chapter 13: Kitsune's End

Storybook Crisis 

By: Gemin16

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it all belongs to J.K. Rowling who can claim the title of a genius and a goddess. I however, own, Kitrina, Lady, and the memory of Kalvin.

A/N: Yes you guys were very straightforward on how you enjoyed the last chapter (*ducks as rotten vegetables are thrown at her*). It mad me very happy yet very sad. Sad because Kalvin died and you guys liked him and happy because it was well written.

I was also disappointed when I looked to see how the chapter looked on Fanfiction.net and I realized the italics and bold didn't show. If it did it would have added such a cool effect to the end, I know, I know, I'm being mean)………

Only two more chapters after this one! Is anyone else besides me excited?

Oh well thank you to all that reviewed and those who didn't. That is really all I have to say for now.

Chapter 13: Kitsune's End

***********************************************************************************************

It was raining.

The droplets fell pitter-patter as it hit the glass of the windows, each drop making the exact same noise as the rest. When they fell together, the drops made a wavy pattern on the glass. It was beautiful but sad in a way.

It had been like that for past week. Hermione sighed softly as she heard the constant drumming of raindrops_. It's starting to get annoying_, she thought quietly to herself as she worked on her homework.

It had been a long week since the events of achieving the fifth item, the Time Turner. It would have been a wonderful celebration with the gaining of a new item, a lost friend returned, and only one item short of finding them all. But the most cheerful member of their party wasn't herself.

Hermione looked over at Kitrina's limp body underneath her star blanket. The vixen had never left her fox form after that sad day. It was obvious that she was greatly saddened and hurt from his death and realization of who he really was. Even when they buried his body, she didn't bother to change forms. Rather she sat in a tree and stared at the funeral. Not too many people showed up, a few acquaintances, teachers, and Hermione, Ron, Harry, and the others. It was sad and short since not many people knew who Kalvin really was. The only person who could really tell them anything was the woman once known as Lady, but she was still recovering from the shock she received and being free after being under the enchantment of the Imperious Curse so long. She was slightly weak and couldn't attend.

Hermione wondered if she would ever hear Kitrina laugh or see her smile again. It was like her heart and soul were broken apart. She walked and ate like she was under a spell, no emotion present what so ever and everything looked so automatic. Her eyes had lost their bright warm color being replaced with a disturbing cold look.

_Will she ever heal?_ Hermione asked herself for the umpteenth time. She never knew what it was like to loose someone that close and didn't know how she would react if the exact same thing happened to her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Crookshanks jump onto the desk where Kitrina lay and laid along side her with a meow. Kitrina didn't response but Crookshanks kept meowing.

"Crookshanks leave her alone," Hermione told him but the cat wouldn't listen. He kept meowing at the vixen in a soft voice. Kitrina's ears made some movement but that was it. Deciding that maybe she should leave the two alone. Hermione gathered her things together and left.

"I have no clue what he could say to her but maybe he might get her to get up," she said as she headed down to Harry's house at the side of the castle. She hadn't talked to any of them since the funeral.

When she arrived there she found the door open and decided to let herself in. Inside she noticed Ron and Harry sitting at the table along with Remus. They had the three items glowing in front of them and looking at it with blank faces. Ron was the first to notice she was there.

"Hullo, 'Mione."

"Hello."

"How's Kitrina?" Remus asked in a quiet voice.

Hermione frowned. "She hasn't come out of her fox form for a week. She's eating but she's had this dead and cold look ever since. Crookshanks is with her right now, meowing away."

"Maybe he's trying to annoy her so she'll change into a human and shut him up," Ron mumbled. He was trying to make a joke but it just didn't sound like one.  

Hermione looked at the items. "They're glowing."

Harry nodded. "When we put them all together, they started to glow. I guess they attract each other that way or something."

Hermione thought for a moment. "Maybe that's the key to finding the sixth item. I have an idea but I can't put it into action until Kitrina decides to come out."

"Let her be," Remus said. "The time of healing is different for every person. When Kitrina is ready she'll be sure to let us know." The three teenagers nodded.

"Hello, Hermione. Haven't seen you in while."

Hermione turned around to see Sirius standing at the door removing his cloak. He hung it on the rack and went to go sit along with the rest of them.

"How's Rosaline?" Remus asked.

"She's getting stronger by the day," Sirius said with a smile. "She'll be out in about two or three days."

"That's good to hear," Remus said, relief reaching his features.

"So who is this Rosaline person?" Harry asked. 

"She's an old friend of the Marauders," Sirius said. "Real close to your mum too, Harry."

"What happened to her?" Hermione asked.

Remus frowned. "Right after you were born Harry, she disappeared. Never to be seen again. She was rumored to be dead, killed by Voldemort supposedly but thank goodness its proven false. Was Arabella there?" he asked Sirius. "She was there when I visited yesterday."

"When has she left is more like it," Sirius said with a laugh.

Hermione gave a questionable look to Harry and Ron.

"My mum's best friend," Harry told her. 

Hermione nodded and continued to listen to Remus and Sirius's conversation. 

***

Kitrina sighed as she redid her ponytail. "I look like hell," she said quietly to herself. She quickly used her wand to wet a rag to wipe her face. Was she in pain? Yes, her whole heart ached. She had so many questions but now they were almost impossible to answer. She could understand why he didn't' tell her but still- it would have been nice to know why.

She rubbed her face gently as she thought about how she first met Kalvin. He was alone and like solid ice but then on that last day she knew he was full of emotion and it was showing. She knew he regretted his actions of the past. His heart had healed and that was what mattered most.

"Although now he's not alive to share it," she said sadly. Crookshanks stood next to her and rubbed his body against her with a meow.

"What were his last words?" she asked him. He nodded. Kitrina blushed a little but tears were clearly in her eyes. 

I love you 

"He said-" a sob came choking out, "he said that-that he loved me." She fell to the floor crying. Crookshanks rubbed his head against her arm meowing. "I never even got to tell him how I felt. Dammit, Crookshanks, you were right." The cat kept on rubbing and purring against Kitrina. She cried harder as she leaned against the desk. She held the sides of her head and rocked back and forth.

"I love him."

Crookshanks meowed.

Kitrina nodded her head and wiped her eyes. "I know, I know, I can't be sad forever. I've had a week to mourn and now I have to get on track and live on with my life. I can't let his sacrifice go to waste so I have to cheer up."

"Meow."

"I've lost almost all of the people close to me, Crookshanks. If the Holy Sorcerer's Stone falls into the wrong hands then, then all hope is lost. But where could it be?"

She was so deep into her thoughts that she didn't notice the look on Crookshanks' face.

***

"Who in their right mind would have an item of Merlin's?" Hermione asked no one.

"Who knows?" Harry answered.

"Wonder if You-Know-Who has a clue?" Ron asked rubbing his temple.

All three of them were sitting on the front step of Harry's house, thinking of who could have the human item. Hermione had pointed out that it would have to be someone with a connection spanning over three hundred years.

"He does," Kitrina said walking over to them with Crookshanks behind her. "If he had a good clue of where the last few were, then he knows, giving him the big advantage over us."

Harry, Hermione, and Ron, look at Kitrina with concerned faces. She looked well- she didn't quite look herself but she was more lively than before.

"Kitrina-are you?" Harry asked.

Kitrina smiled, although it was small and not as bright as usual. "I'll be fine, honestly. Items first and then you can spoil me with all your love. Remember now. Favorite candies are those live gummy worms and I could use a brand new set of earrings. Crookshanks will take notes if you have any questions." They smiled. Even though she didn't' look like it and even if what she said just now sounded forced, they could tell that Kitrina was healing rapidly in her own style.

"So how exactly do we find this Holy Sorcerer's Stone thingy?" Ron asked.

"We could use the other items," Hermione suggested. "They seem to glow when another is around."

"That we could," Kitrina said sitting down next to Harry. "But it will take us a while, I can guarantee you that much."

"What about the other items. What exactly can the time turner do?"

"Go backwards in time depending on how you turn it. It's dangerous though; if you change the wrong event serious consequences could happen. It's something Master was very careful about, I'm glad we have it. But it's the Holy Sorcerer's Stone that I'm worried about. It's the most important and powerful item that Master created.  There was an old rhyme that master once told me, something like if you hold the stone that which is sacred, you hold the key to eternal power. I'm sure that's what Voldemort is really after. But even so any of the items can be dangerous if used properly by the wrong hands."

"What about the other items?" Harry asked.

Kitrina leaned back. "The first item that was stolen was the Sorcerer's Stone, that's for sure."

Hermione looked at her. "How do you know?"

"For one, we only have two choices left of what he has, the holy stone and the normal one. Master didn't leave the Holy Stone with the Goblins. They weren't trusted back then; Master was lucky that he could get them to hold an item for him. I'm actually surprised that they would hold the Sorcerer's Stone."

"What about this Excalibur's Hilt?" Ron asked her. 

"Excalibur's hilt, an item that requires little magic yet great skill. Like the name implies. It's nothing but a hilt."

"What's the catch though?" Harry asked her.

"It changes into any weapon the wielder desires. All it takes is thought but in order for it to work, you'll need to know what you're doing with the weapon."

"The gourd we know about, the time turner we understand, the pendant however we don't," Ron said putting his arms behind his head.

"I guess that one you'll just have to figure out on your own," Kitrina said softly. "I'm all out of ideas."

"Didn't the centaur say something about finding the last item?" Harry said.

"Fiernze said that Master left the item with someone he trust more than the centaurs and unicorns, which is pretty hard to figure out who it is. The only person that Mater trusted more than the centaurs and unicorns were Emrys, Yurah, and Gatoh and there's no way any of them could have. Yurah and Emry's died along with Master and Gatoh wasn't there when Master hid the items." Crookshanks meowed.

"So what should we do?" Hermione asked.

"We'll split up, each of you taking an item with you and finding the last item. If it glows, then you know it's somewhere close."

"What about you? We only have three items," Harry told her.

"I have my own way of sensing the items," she said with a wink. "Hurry and get the items before we loose our last chance. We'll meet back here in about three hours okay?" Agreeing the three adolescents ran inside and retrieved the items. Harry took the time turner, Ron had the pendant, and Hermione left with the gourd. As they walked out, Ron was the last to one to leave the house. He saw Kitrina tying her boot with Crookshanks waiting.

"Um, Kitrina," he said sheepishly.

Kitrina looked up. "Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her. Kitrina smiled and a tiny bit of her fox ears popped out, making Ron worry what she would say.

"The way you were worrying about me, you would think you liked me and not Hermione." Ron blushed and went to go kick at Kitrina but the vixen was too quick for him. "See you later, Arrow-boy!" she called back.

Ron growled inwardly but smiled. She was definitely getting back to her old self. He looked at the item he was holding. _Funny_, he thought. Why was it glowing?

***

Kitrina sighed as she walked the streets of Hogsmeade. She had separated from Crookshanks over an hour ago. "Come out, come out, where ever you are," she said childishly. She passed by a few stands in the middle of the street. Looking in her pocket she noticed she still had plenty of shopping money left. She smiled to herself and looked up to the gray sky. "I can't help that I'm a girl so please forgive me Master. Who knows I may find it in a shop somewhere."

***

Harry looked at the time turner in his pocket. It still wasn't glowing and in fact it hadn't glowed since he started his search two hours ago. It wasn't looking good. If they didn't' find that last item, the Voldemort would go on killing more and more people. People like his parents, Kalvin, and many more. 

Harry frowned and started running.

***

Ron wasn't having much luck. His pendant didn't glow since he left Kitrina by Harry's house and he was still puzzled by that thought. _It's probably because it was near the other items for so long_, he thought to himself. 

He wondered what things You-Know-Who would do if he got his grubby hands on the last item. Kitrina said it was pretty powerful but then again she said any of the items could be pretty powerful if used correctly. He held up the pendant and looked at it. "Only a powerful wizard could use you, huh?" he asked himself out loud. He heard the giant clock strike two o'clock.

"Great," he mumbled. "Three hours searching and nothing."

***

"I've found nothing," Hermione said to herself as she started walking back to Harry's house. Only one more item to go and then they would still have to get the other two back, she thought. After that their quest would be done. Then what?

Would she leave the book?

Would she be forced to leave the only friends she had? Ginny, Harry, Lisa, Kitrina, Ron and all the others.

Or would she and Crookshanks have to stay in this world? Not that would be a bad thing but she would never see her parents or teachers ever again. 

_I wonder if they even know if I'm gone?_ she thought.

***

Kitrina slid the package under Hermione's bed and smiled. "It's the least I can give her," she said bouncing on top of the bed. She heard the clock stuck two and sighed. "No item. Well at least Voldy doesn't have it."

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a tapping noise on the window. She stood up and saw a large owl sitting on the windowsill. "I've never seen you around here before, who are you?" she asked it. The owl said nothing and presented her with its leg, a note wrapped around it.

"For me?" she asked sarcastically. "You shouldn't have. I feel so honored being presented with your leg."

"Hoot!"

"Don't call me a twit, you oversized excuse for a pillow. Of course I see the damn note. So stay still." She took the note off of its leg and opened it. Her eyes narrowed as she read it. She looked at the owl.

"Whose your Master?"

"Hoot."

"I see. Well thank you." The owl flew away.

Kitrina thought to herself as she reread the note. It was shakily written but she got the message loud and clear. "The chances of it being a trap are high but I can't let it slip. This might have been all a part of Master's plan." She looked at the package under Hermione's desk. "This doesn't feel good but might as well write something." She took out a piece of paper and a quill and started writing.

***

"Where could she be?" Ron asked as he tapped his foot impatiently.

"She may have found something," Hermione said.

"Or she may have forgotten," Harry added in. 

"I hope she found a clue or something," Hermione said as she looked at the sky.

Ron looked at all three items and watched as they glowed. He cocked his head.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"They're glowing."

"Well what else would they do when they're put together," Hermione said dryly.

Ron shot her a mean look. "I know that, it's just that when I was with Kitrina, the pendant glowed. There was no other item too"

"Seriously?" Harry asked him.

Ron nodded. A thought came to Hermione as Crookshanks came trotting by them.

"No fox with you aye," Harry asked. Crookshanks ignored him and rubbed his body against Hermione's leg. "What is it, Crookshanks?" 

"He has something in his mouth," Ron told her.

Hermione took the note out of his mouth and read it out loud.

**Searchers of the Items,**

I know someone who can give you information on the last item. Come to the dungeons inside Hogwarts around three and I will tell you all I can.

**WT**

"Whose WT?" Ron asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I certainly don't know. Crookshanks where did you find this?"

"Meow."

Everyone stood silent for a minute. Finally Ron spoke up. "What made you think that he would answer you?"

Hermione shot him an aggravated look. "I'm sorry it's just that Kitrina does it all the time. Did you get it from her?" she asked her cat. 

Crookshanks shook his head.

"Where? My room?"

Crookshanks nodded. 

Hermione thought. "Then that means that Kitrina must have gone to the corridor, huh."

Crookshanks meowed.

"Why didn't she tell us?" Ron asked with a frown.

"Because if it was a trap then we would get hurt," Harry said. "And she would rather die than have us get hurt."

That's when it hit Hermione. "The Holy Sorcerer's Stone could only be with someone that Merlin truly trust."

"The item glowed when Ron was standing with her," Harry said.

"And when she held the pendant before," Hermione said remembering. She tried to shush Crookshanks as he meowed constantly.

"She's very close to Merlin," Ron said.

All three of them looked at each other with shocked expressions.

"KITRINA!"

***

Kitrina sneezed as she entered the unused corridor. She felt her forehead as she kept on walking. "Funny it doesn't feel like I have a fever," she said.

It was dark and it was cold. She held out her wand and made it glow so she could see her way. "Now why would this W.T. guy want to meet in the dungeons? Sure they would never be used giving enough privacy but it's way to cold to start one. I'll have to have a serious conversation with this guy on the dangers of holding conversations with chattering teeth."

Little did she know that there was a tail swiveling around the halls in front of her, hearing ever word.

***

"Hold on guys," Harry said as they ran into the castle. 

"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked stopping along with Ron and Crookshanks.

He winced as his hand flew to his forehead. Ron eye's opened wide. "You don't think?"

Harry nodded as he winced some more. "I think so."

Hermione looked at both boys frantically. "Think what?"

"It's him," Harry said. "He's here."

"Who?"

"You-Know-Who," Ron said with a serious expression. "Harry's scar burns whenever he's near."

Hermione face lit up with fear. "The that means-"

"We have to hurry," Harry said as they started running again.

***

Kitrina felt something, the feeling that she was waiting for. "There's an item here!" she said happily as she started running forward into the dungeons. "W.T. must have the Holy Sorcerer's Stone!" She kept running forward until she saw the glow from torches. Slowing down to catch her breath, she looked forward and saw a shadow. 

"Hello? W.T? I'm one of the searchers of the items. Are you there."

"I'm right here."

Kitrina turned around only to meet face to face with a wand. Before she could react, ropes came from it and wrapped all around her body causing her to tumble over.

"It was a trap," she said as she hit the ground with a thud. 

"But of course," a silky voice said from behind her. She struggled to turn her head but regretted doing so. Standing before her was a tall and skinny excuse for a person dressed in black robes.

It was Voldemort! 

"Wormtail, chain her to the wall!"

"Y-yes, Master." Kitrina felt herself being lifted by a spell and glided over to a wall. The ropes fell from her body and sooner than she could react, she felt her hands and feet being chained to the wall of the dungeon. She looked at Wormtail with confused black eyes. Once he stepped back, she was left to stare at the glowing red eyes of Voldemort. A sudden fear came over her as he drew near her and cupped her face in his hand. It felt like ice. She shivered.

"Are we afraid my dear," he said tauntingly. 

Kitrina removed her face from his grip. "Not afraid," she said with a tremble in her voice. "Disgusted!"

Voldemort laughed. It was crackled and disturbing. 

"What do you want from me?" Kitrina demanded. "I don't carry any of the items with me!"

"Oh but you are."

Her eyebrows narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"I was angry!" Voldemort said ignoring her question. "I've been searching for the items but had no clue as to who could have them but then it hit me. Let the vixen be set free once more and have her show me where the items were. Wormtail followed you to many places and heard many of your conversations. The ones he missed, he deserved a fair punishment for each one." Kitrina could see Wormtail's figure cower in fear but she looked back at Voldemort.

"I found out where they were one by one but I was searching for one item in particular. The one item that I would need to grant me all the power I wanted, the Holy Sorcerer's Stone. But there was one problem. After seeking one by one to see what the other creatures had, none of them had the Holy Stone! Luckily for me, Wormtail heard one detail that would help me solve all my troubles. Merlin would only leave the Holy item with the person he trusted the most. And that my dear little fox, is you!"

Shock entered Kitrina's expression as she stared at Voldemort. 

"Surprised aren't we," he said.

Kitrina didn't answer.

"Think about it? How else could you have lived for so long? You ability to understand other animals, the power to transform into a fox at will, you could sense the items without fail, and you can read into people whenever you liked. What else would give you that power but the Holy Sorcerer's Stone."

"Yes, I have to admit why would Merlin trust the most precious item with a stuffy little girl? But then again a stuffy little girl wouldn't realize what she could do with the full potential of the stone. She could have easily taken over other people's thoughts and mind, even other creatures! She could have done so much with it but she didn't. Why, you wonder? Because her dear precious Master didn't want her too!" His voice was loud and taunting and ever word hit Kitrina ears. Everything he said made nothing but perfect sense. 

She now understood where all her powers came from but she just still couldn't believe that she would have the stone. But where? How?

"You see you created not as an accident, not even for a companion, you were created for a purpose. You want to know exactly what you are?"

She didn't answer him.

He smirked. She could tell he was enjoying this.

"You're nothing but a shell, a casing to cover up the item that he wanted to hide so dearly. He never loved you like you thought he did. You were being used all this time! He only cared that you kept his item safe."

Tears fell from Kitrina's eyes. Was Voldemort telling the truth? Was she nothing but a shell? Ever since she could remember, she had always known that she was created differently from other children. That she was made not born.

Was she just a shell?

Was her Master really just pretending that he cared and loved her?

Was her feelings and life really that unimportant to the man that she looked up to and respected more than anyone, the one person that she would remain loyal to, beyond death? Would he really do that?

But then a flood of memories rushed into Kitrina's head.

~*~*~

"Mather, Mather!" A four-year-old Kitrina called out to an elderly man reading a book.

He smiled. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed, little one?" he asked her.

Kitrina shook her head, two curly pigtails swinging in opposite directions. "Mth. Yourah said I could get a stowie firth. Will you read me one, pweaze?" She held up a thick book in front of him.

Merlin smiled. "I'd be delighted to. Come on." He picked her up and let her lean against his frame as he began to read to her.

*

"Master, Master, look, look! I did it." A nine-year-old Kitrina called out to Merlin. She had just performed her first spell.

He patted her gently on the head. "Very good, Kitrina!" Fox ears came out of her head.

"She's such a clever little girl," a lady's voice said.

"She very smart for age, Merlin. You should be proud of her," a man's voiced told Merlin.

Merlin smiled up at the man. "I couldn't be more proud of her."

Kitrina beamed with pride. 

*

"See that star up there, Kitrina?"

An eleven-year-old Kitrina looked up at the stars. "Yeah."

"That star will always be there to guide you when you're lost and alone. Never forget that."

Kitrina nodded her head eagerly. "I won't. Honestly!"

Merlin smiled affectionately at her. " I know you won't."

*

A fifteen-year-old Kitrina entered Merlin's study. "Master, Emerys said you wanted to see me."

"I did. Sit down, Kitrina." She did as she was told. Merlin looked like he was greatly disturbed.

"Is something wrong?" Kitrina asked. She hadn't gotten into any trouble in the past four hours so what could he have wanted.

He looked at her with his brown eyes. "Very soon, little one, I will have to leave as well as Yurah and Emrys"

"Leave. You mean on a trip or something?" 

"I'm afraid not. I will leave this world I mean."

Kitrina gasped. "You mean you're all going to die!"

Merlin nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so."

"No! You can't!" Tears spilled from Kitrina's eyes. "You can't die!"

Merlin looked sadly at her, his own eyes threatening to shed tears. "It' will be alright. Gatoh will still be here."

"But I want you to stay!" Kitrina said hugging her Master close.

Merlin hugged her back. "I'm afraid I have to go, fate has already chosen this path for me. You have to stay here and live the path fate has chosen for you."

She sniffed. "I'm going to miss you!"

"As will I. You know I love you very much, Kitrina. I'm very proud of who you've become and I will always be proud of you. I know you'll grow to be a lovely young lady."

"I love you too. Your like my papa!"

"And you're nothing short of a daughter to me."

~*~*~

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Kitrina yelled at Voldemort. "I WAS HIS DAUGHTER, NOT A SHELL! UNLIKE YOU, YOU BACKSTABBING, MURDERER, MASTER WOULD NEVER CREATE LIFE FOR THAT PURPOSE!"

"Don't you dare yell at me," Voldemort said slapping her across the face but Kitrina stared back at him with angry tear filled eyes. How dare he try to turn her love for Merlin into hatred.

"You'll never win," Kitrina said. "I don't care how powerful you are, you'll never win!"

"Oh but I will. You'll see, but perhaps you won't live long enough to see that. If you agree to work for me I'll spare your life, just get me Potter and his friends along with the other items."

Kitrina managed to smile despite her anger and tears. "Never. To betray one's friends is a crime far worse than killing an innocent unicorn." She noticed Wormtail gasp in the corner.

"Very well," Voldemort said reaching into his robes. "Since you refuse I will have to claim what will only be mine." He took out a hilted figure. It glowed dimly as he held.

Kitrina gasped. "The Excalibur's Hilt!"

Voldemort laughed. "What better way to retrieve an item and kill you but with the very item your own Master made."

Kitrina's eyes widened in fear as the hilt change into a dagger as Voldemort slowly raised it up into the air.

_Master help me!_

***

"Did you hear that?" Ron asked as they ran down the stairway that led down to the dungeons.

"It sounded like a scream," Harry said, the color slowly draining form his face.

"You don't think it could be-" Hermione said, fear clearly in her voice.

They ran even faster, hoping that somehow in someway that they weren't too late. They couldn't be late. Too much was on the line. Kitrina, the item, the fate of the entire wizarding population. They just couldn't be.

No one bothered to light their wands as they ran down the hall, all that could be heard was their feet pounding the ground and Crookshanks's paws softly hitting the ground as he ran ahead of them. Hermione felt her heart beat getting louder with every passing second.

Harry grabbed at his forehead. "Vol-de-mort is here and close."

What seemed like a minute of running felt like an eternity. As they ran further they noticed the hall lighting up with the light from a torch. The smell of the dungeons filled their nostrils but there was an added ingredient to the smell.

Blood!

Crookshanks was the first to reach the dungeon with Harry, then Ron, and finally Hermione. It took all of Hermione's strength not to scream, much less faint. 

Lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood was Kitrina with no one else with her.

Crookshanks walked up next to her and rubbed his head against her hand. "Meow."

"It's good to see you too."

They gasped. She was still alive. All three of them ran to her side and looked at her body. Blood ran down from the corner of her mouth and from a large gash in her side. Harry quickly took off his robe and covered it up but blood seeped through it. He lifted up part of her body so that she sitting up and looking at them. The color was draining from her face and she seemed to be getting weaker by the minute.

She smiled. "I'm glad I get to see you one last time," she said hoarsely.

Hermione looked at her friend. "Don't talk like that. Hold on, we'll get someone in the castle down here to heal you and everything will be okay."

Kitrina shook her head. "No, it won't be. Voldemort stabbed me good, right through the liver. I only have a few more minutes to live. Besides you can't give up this chance, Voldemort's in the building walking around with the Holy Sorcerer's Stone. Who would have thought that I would have it, huh?" She tried to laughed but coughed instead. "You guys have to go after him."

"But what about you?" Harry asked, tears filling up in his eyes.

"Stop crying all of you. You should be happy for me. I'll get to be with my master and all of the others. I'll get to see Kalvin again and tell that idiot how much I love him. See, it's not a bad thing."

"But Kitrina?" Hermione said.

"But what?" Kitrina asked. She looked at Crookshanks. "We had a lot of fun together, didn't we? If it weren't for you, a lot of things wouldn't have happened. I'm glad I got to see you again, Crookshanks. Hehe. I like your new name; it's funnier than the last one. Take care of these three for me okay? "

Crookshanks meowed. 

Kitrina smiled, tears rolling down her eyes. "I'll do that. Thanks." She looked up at Harry. "I have to say, your one of the bravest people I've ever known, Harry. It was also fun to have another person top share ideas and thoughts on certain human subjects on, right? Looks like you'll win this bet though."

"You would have won," Harry said. "You won the last one, and you would most likely win this one."

She blinked. "You're the leader, I'm trusting you to do the right thing."

Harry nodded, letting the tears fall down. "I will."

She looked over to Ron, who was trying not to cry but failing. "I liked hanging out with you, Ron. You're honest and funny but I guess I got on your nerves a lot, didn't I?"

Ron wiped his eyes. "Forget about it, Kitrina, you didn't honestly."

"You have to watch her, you know that and believe in her. It'll be hard but I know you can make it through."

"What are you talking about?"

Kitrina giggled but she ended up coughing again. "Love, silly. Ron loves Hermione doesn't he?" He didn't even blush like he normally would.

Finally Kitrina turned to Hermione. "It was really nice having another girl to talk to. We had so much fun together, right? When I told Albus Dumbledore to write that book fifty years ago, I never would have imagined someone like you coming through. I'm glad you did."

Hermione's eyes opened in shock. She told Dumbledore to write the Mysterious World. "Kitrina?"

Kitrina blinked letting her tears fall down. "Yeah, I told him. Prophecy said we needed someone from the outside and you were the one. Hermione, you learned the most didn't you, you learned more about yourself than you would have ever imagined. Watching you change was so much fun and I was glad to apart of it." Her voice grew weaker and her eyes started to close.

"Kitrina you can't go! We need you! You were the one who brought all three of us together!"

"You did," Harry said.

"If weren't for you Hermione would still be stuck in her room studying and me and Harry would be in detention not knowing that she existed," Ron said.

Kitrina's smile never faulted. "I'll never leave you guys, I'm very hard to get rid of you know. Honestly I don't have too much time left. Listen, Harry, behind you is the Excalibur's Hilt, take it and bring it with you. Voldemort left it behind after taking the Holy Sorcerer's Stone. All three of you have to go after him and Hermione, I know you're thinking this so don't even argue. What ever you do, don't use the time turner. If you do, something awful will happen. And remember this. If you three work together, you can beat him and save the wizard race. Just use the skill and items that you have now and you'll make it. I'm so tired….."

"Kitrina!" Hermione cried.

"I'm still here," she said but it was barely audible. "I'm glad I got to meet all of you. I never grew up with too many people but I'm glad you three were my best friends and stop crying, Master's calling. Bye-bye-" Her eyes closed and she leaned back into Harry's grip. Crookshanks meowed but Kitrina's reply never came. 

The little vixen, who was loyal to the very end, finally got her wish.


	15. Chapter 14: Battle Between Light and Dar...

Storybook Crisis 

By: Gemin16

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter because a certain Goddess named J.K. Rowling created the universe first. I'm just simply borrowing her characters to fit my own fantasy called a fanfic. And in the process of writing this certain fanfic, I create a plot and a set of characters that sprouted from my own little insane mind. In other words, any new characters belong to me and so does this plot.

A/N: I'm sorry for the delay in this chapter but here's a simple math equation to help you understand my delay:

 Holidays + Normal Schedule = Very Limited CPU Time

Only one more chapter to go after this one! Yeah!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited, anyone else? And yes, just like the chapter with Kalvin's death, I got your message loud and clear about the death of Kitrina. I never really thought that you would get personally attached to her like that. Some of you took it really hard. But since you now know that I'm willing to kill the good guys and even the main characters, what will happen to Hermione and the others? (Laughs wickedly. I know, I know, I'm doing it again.)

Special Thanks to:

Xodox: Hehe. Sowie, but it's all part of the plot but thank you for the compliment.

Hyperly Mad: I'm not upset at your review, honestly. In fact your review helped me understand how good my writing is. If people like you love Kitrina so much then that means I'm doing a good job. By the way, I love your name.

Shaz Kay Gee Bee: Welcome Back! LOL, I find myself gaining new reviewers as well as seeing the old ones come back. Thank you for the comment.

Lordoftherats, Adnap Nottap, Jessica, Pansy Potter, Rebecca Anne, Gillian: Thank you for reading.

Drama Princess87: Hmmm…..you never know, maybe I will. J

Ferggirl99: LOL, I think most of us wish we could live a double life like that, in my case a five lives would be needed to fit my line of men. (goes back into dream mode as she thinks of all the guys she likes.)

R/Hr Fan: I love reading your reviews and I did do as you asked me to and yes, I got a sea of different words. Thanks that really did help boost up my inspiration.

And now on with the second to the last chapter of the story!

Chapter 14: Battle Between Light and Dark

***********************************************************************************************

Kitrina was dead.

It had hit them hard as they stood over her body, waiting for it to move and for her to shout out surprise but when it never came, reality hit them. 

_But how?_ Was all that Hermione could think as she cried harder. Only a few hours ago they were laughing over her latest wise crack and now-now they would never hear her laugh again.

Harry was the first to recover. "We have to go. If we stay here any longer, Voldemort will leave the castle for good and we would never be able to stop them." He wiped his eyes as he picked up the Excalibur's Hilt and stuck it within his robes.

"But, Harry, how are we going to catch up with him, he's probably half way out of the castle by now," Hermione asked sniffing.

"He probably apparated away," Ron said.

"That's impossible," Hermione said. "No one can Apparate in or out of the castle, so that means that Voldemort couldn't have disappeared right away. Although he still could be anywhere by now."

"Then we have to find him," Harry said. "Let's go."

Covering their friend's body with their cloaks, the three teens plus one cat set off to search the castle of the dark lord.

"Where the hell could he be?" Ron muttered as they ran down the hall. "This is the largest building in the city, more magical hallways, stairways, and doorways than there are in twelve blocks of houses."

"Then that means he can get lost too," Harry said. "Even Dumbledore complains of getting lost in this castle and he's been working here longer than anyone."

"So if we're lucky than You-Know-Who is delayed and still in the castle," Hermione said.

Harry grabbed at his forehead. "He is."

Ron gulped. "But where?"

Crookshanks's ears wiggled as he looked up into the leading staircase.

"Do you hear him?" Hermione asked him.

"Meorw." He ran forward up into the staircase.

"Crookshanks wait!"

"Of all the times to run off, he chooses now!" Ron said chasing after him.

"But he's leading us to Voldemort," Harry said, wincing at the pain coming form his forehead. "We need to cut him off somewhere or we'll never catch up." 

"But how?" Hermione asked. "Not unless you two know a secret passage or something?"

"Actually we do," Harry said.

"What?"

"I've practically lived in this castle my whole life since we live right next to it," Harry said. "Me and Ron have explored passages in almost every floor."

"In fact, if we want to reach the main floor, we would head into this hall right here," Ron said running into another hall aside from the staircase. All it contained were pictures and an extremely large white statue. It was also a dead end.

"What are we going to do now?" Hermione asked.

"Relax, the passage is right here," Harry said pulling down the arm of the statue. A door sized gap appeared in the wall. "Lets go, it'll get us to the main floor faster than the normal way."

Entering inside, Hermione discovered the passage to be extremely dusty but it seemed to be leading somewhere. As they walked further, she felt something warm within her robes. Reaching in she pulled out the healing gourd, which was glowing dimly.

"He's close," Hermione said, watching as Ron and Harry took out the Time Turner and Pendant, which were also glowing slightly.

"We're almost at the end," Ron said. Finally seeing a light come forth towards Harry opened the door and the three of them entered a deserted hallway. Hermione immediately recognized it as the main floor. "We made it."

"Looks like Voldemort's nearby as well," Harry said as he looked at his glowing item.

"It's now or never," Ron said bringing out his wand.

"We have to this," Hermione said nervously. "For Kitrina's sake and for everyone else's."

***

Sirius looked out the window as he saw a dark cloud appear over the sky. "You said that they left to go look for the final item?" he asked Remus, who was preparing dinner.

"That's what the note that Harry left us said," he said calmly.

"Hard to believe they have such a hard task resting on their shoulders. I wonder if they have any clues as to where the last item could reside?"

"They're smart kids, I'm sure they'll figure it out."

Nodding, Sirius stared back out the window. "Strange. I've never seen clouds move this fast before."

***

"Linali, have you cleaned up yet?"

Linali sighed. Twenty years old and she was still being ordered around by her mother. "Yes, Mother." After the festival, the gypsies had moved themselves back into the hills on the outskirts of the city. She looked up at the sky watching as the dark clouds formed overhead. Her eyebrows narrowed. _Something does not feel right. What was it that Baba told me when I was little._

"When the sky grows dark and the wind grows cold-

The six lights of destiny will choose the winning string of fate.

A sign will appear in the black sky and a crimson light will circle the battlefield-

Calling all players to the game of life.

Only there will the battle to determine wizardkind's course of history take place,

And decide the future of our race."

_That battle will take place soon, the fates are telling us this. _All around her, gypsies were starting to stop their evening chores and stare into the city of Hogsmeade, where the dark clouds were gathering. A gust of cold wind blew by blowing her dirty blond locks into her face. Wiping them away, she continued to think. 

"Linali, you still have dishes that need to be enchanted."

Right away, Linali was wiped out of her concentration. "Mother….."

***

"Crookshanks-"

Harry and Ron looked at Hermione. "What about him?" Ron asked her.

"He's not here," Hermione said looking around. "He was with us when we left the dungeons but he didn't come with us when we went into the passage."

"He probably took the long way," Ron said. "He ran ahead of us remember."

"I hope he's not getting himself into trouble," Hermione whispered to herself.

"He'll be fine," Harry said continuing on. "It's Voldemort we need to worry about." He stopped and kneeled down to the ground.

"Harry?!"

"He's still in the castle, that's for sure," he said wincing in pain. "And he's real close." All of a sudden a bright neon light illuminated from a room within the hallway and shot out into the hall and out the window.

"What the bloody?" Ron said turning towards it.

"Look!" Hermione yelled pointing out the window. The neon light had formed itself into a skull that glowed bright in the dark sky. "It's his mark!"

***

"The dark mark!" Sirius yelled as he stepped outside to get a better look at the mark, with Remus right behind him.

"And Voldemort's the one who conjured it up," Remus said. "No one but him could create something as evil looking as that." All around them, witches and wizards, began to panic, many of them grabbing their children and running inside to the nearest building. The mark seemed to glow brighter and brighter by the minute.

***

"It's time," Linali said as she saw the mark light up in the sky.

"That it is," her mother said, walking up behind her. "Now the battle of the prophecy will take place"

"And-?" Linali asked.

Her mother had a severe look on her face. "If the wrong side is to win, we will face a darkness worse than any."

***

Headfang looked up into the sky from his office position at Gringotts. He snorted. "Children? We're all doomed."

***

Olympe, Gigi, Hugon, and Tona stared up at he dark mark. "The prophecy is coming true," Hugon said with a severe look on his normally gentle face.

"We did our duty," Tona said quietly. "Now we just have to wait."

***

Anim and Levira stopped as they saw the night sky light up with Voldemort's sign. They quickly squealed for everyone to stop talking at once.

The blue pixie leader was the first to speak. "Squeak." The prophesy.

Levira raised a nano hand to her face. "Squeak." Those humans will fight. I wonder if they will survive?

All of a sudden a rebel fairy lifted up into the air and flew in circles calling out. "Squeak! Squeak!" Who wants to take bets on the humans? Starting at five flies per wage!

Pixies and fairies flew around him betting their thoughts.

"Squeak!" I bet they'll loose in ten minutes!

"Sq-Squeak!" No! No! I say five minutes!

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!" No! No! No! No! They're going to win! I bet you forty flies on my mother's eggs!

Everyone gasped and looked at the pixie who said it. One of the fairies looked at her. "Squeak!?" You bet on your mother's eggs?! You trust them that much?

She looked at them with a determined face. "Squeak!" Of course!

The fairy nodded his head. "Squeak!" I triple bet you on that!

***

Firenze looked up at the sky, seeing only the tinniest patch of stars in between the colds. He had seen the dark mark and stayed as calm as usual. The unicorn beside him gave a whine and shook it's head.

"Yes, the stars tell me who the winner will be."

It neighed.

"But they also tell me of more things to come."

***

Hermione looked at Harry, who was standing up slowly. He looked at the both of them. "He's gathering his Death Eaters to the castle now so we need to retrieve the item before we're outnumbered."

"Oh but you are severely outnumbered."

Harry, Hermione, and Ron, turned their heads only to meet with the exact same face that Kitrina had seen when she was murdered.

Voldemort's!

All three of them stared wide-eyed as they watched the dark lord move closer towards them. His wand in a casual grip, pointing straight at them; his red eyes ablaze, filled with dark humor, edge, and power.

To Hermione it was like staring into the depths of hell.

His thin lips turned upward into a smirk. "Just like I told that stuffy little girl, I could never understand why Merlin would entrust such an important task to her? Especially when she chose three tiny teenagers to take the task of finding the items. I have to say that stupid excuse for an assistant wasn't too bright."

Hermione felt her grip tighten on her wand. How dare he talk about Kitrina like that! Hermione fought to raise her wand, but-

 but- 

Those eyes. She had never felt so scared before in her life. Here in front of her was the very thing that scared most of the wizarding world. Wherever he stepped, there was death as if he was the messenger of it himself. 

Would she die like the others?

She caught a glimpse of Harry and Ron.  Ron looked just as nervous as she was, as so did Harry but both had their wands firmly in their hands.

Voldemort clearly saw the looks on their faces and his smirk only grew more. "I should kill you instantly but first I want to play around with you for a while. Tell me, can you duel?"

Without waiting for an answer he continued. "First you start out with the bow-" the slits in his eyes got smaller and his voice even more deadlier as he raised his wand. "-so bow for me." Hermione felt herself go down into a bow position along with Harry and Ron. 

"And then we duel!"

Before any of them could react, a curse had been yelled and Hermione's body was face to face with the cold floor, her wand separated from her, only a few feet away but it was still to far for her to reach. She quickly realized that Harry and Ron were in the same situation.

"What's wrong? Not one of you attempted to attack me and it's three against one." Even though she couldn't see him, Hermione could have sworn that she felt his expression light up with excitement. She heard his footsteps draw towards them and his snickering echo through the empty hallway. "Here I have before me, one of the best archers within the city, most likely the land; a clever and crafty witch from outside our world, and one of the most famous wizard's in history, and not one of them could even try to land a hit on me. Is this the best that that stupid little vixen could conjure up?"

"Shut up."

Hermione glanced up from the floor and saw Harry sit up slowly, his face had an angry expression written upon it. 

Voldemort looked at him with an expressionless glance. "Excuse me?"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Harry yelled, staring strait into the piercing red eyes. Ron sat up along with him and looked at Voldemort with a strait face. And even though she was most likely filled with the most fear out of all of them, Hermione sat up too and looked at Voldemort.

The smirk reappeared. "So you do have some backbone, after all." His eyes completely lit up with excitement. "I wonder how long till we can break it?

"Let's try again."

Automatically, Hermione and the others went for their wands and stood up to counter attack him but again they were knocked down to the ground, the wind removed from their lungs. 

Voldemort's laugh rang through their ears. "Now here comes the fun part, I know for a fact that you have the items with you. Give them to me now!"

"Never," Hermione found herself whispering. She couldn't turn in the item that she had risked life to get. Not after so many people died, trying to protect them.

Voldemort heard the faint whisper and stepped closer to Hermione. "You refuse? I'll make you."

"No!"

All heads turned towards Ron. "Get away from her!" he growled.

Voldemort turned to his direction. "The first volunteer then? _Crucio!_" Ron fell, his face filled with excruciating pain, his voice expressing it.

"Ron!"

Harry gazed back towards Voldemort and reached for his wand. "You-"

"_Crucio!_" Harry fell back down, yelling in pain.

"Ron! Harry!" Hermione screamed. Voldemort turned back upon her, his expression nothing above pure pleasure. Hermione felt all feeling leave her body as she stared strait into his crimson orbs with the black slits.

"_Crucio!_" 

In a split second, all the feeling came back to her body but this time in the form of pure pain. It was nothing like she had never felt before. Every inch of her earthly body was being filled with an indescribable pain so intense that she felt like she would burst from it, like pins, needles, and knives piercing her skin Her voice was screaming out nothing but pure terror along with Harry and Ron. Why couldn't anyone hear them?

It felt like an eternity, longer than the run to find Kitrina, she knew that if it didn't stop, she would die from it.

And then it stopped.

Hermione slumped against the wall, catching her breath. Her head felt dizzy and her body was numb form all the pain. She managed a look over at Harry and Ron and saw them making their way towards her, shaking horribly. 

Voldemort watched. "Now give me those items." 

None of them blinked or said anything; their wands were separated from them and they were still recovering from that long phase with the Cruciatus curse. They managed to move closer together slowly never taking their eyes off of him.

Voldemort's wand moved and pointed strait at them.  "WORMTAIL!" he shouted. The pathetic figure of his loyal servant showed up.

"Yes, Master?"

"Take the items away from them."

Shaking, Wormtail nodded. "Yes, Master." He turned towards Hermione and the others and shouted out the same spell that he used on Kitrina. All three of them were bound together tightly as Wormtail came up to them and searched them. Hermione flinched as he reached within her robes and removed the gourd. Ron struggled as he took the pendant from around his neck.

Harry didn't bother to struggle as Wormtail removed the items from him but instead looked at him with an angry glare.

"You killed them," he said quietly so that only he, Wormtail, Ron, and Hermione could hear it. 

Hermione blinked. She remembered Harry telling her that it was Wormtail that betrayed his parents.

Wormtail stepped back, shaking as he took the two items away from Harry as quickly as he could, so that he could avoid his angry green eyes.

"Bring them here!" Wormtail brought the four glowing items to his master as fast as he could, almost tripping over his robes as he did. He held them for Voldemort as he reached within his robes and pulled out two items that glowed brightly. The three teens looked at him with wide eyes as he held both Sorcerer Stone's in his long skinny hands. The items glowed brightly as ever. 

Hermione had never seen anything like it before. Voldemort held all the items together and they glowed even more as they floated above his hands, their glowing yellow light turning a bright crimson. Before any of them could blink, the light exploded into a beam and shot out the window.

***

Everyone outside of Hogwarts, looked up at the sky as a bright crimson light circled around the castle three times.

Ginny watched in amazement form her bedroom window. "What's happening?" she said as she saw the ring of red.

***

Linali watched along with the rest of her clan. "The crimson light will circle the battlefield, calling all players," she heard an elder near her say out loud. She shivered.

What would the outcome be?

***

Sirius looked at Remus. "What the hell is happening?"

Remus put his hand over his eyes to shield out the light. "I don't know, I've never seen anything like this. Do you think?"

Sirius knew exactly what Remus was referring to. "Let's hope not."

***

"Now that they're all together, the items have regained their full power and now can be used to their fullest extent!" Voldemort roared as all the items floated in front of him. "And I'll be able to use the Holy Sorcerer's Stone to become the most powerful wizard in all of history!"

Hermione felt her heart sank, Voldemort had all six items in his grasp now and here she was tied up and wandless. They had failed Kitrina and Merlin, as well as the wizarding world. What could they do now? They were in the grasp of the most powerful dark wizard of the century. She was sure that he would kill them, one by one, most likely. They would die like Kitrina and Kalvin, like that baby unicorn and the people killed years before when he was at the highlight of his power. She was going to die without ever growing up, never to see her mother or her father, Mrs. Greene, her professors, or anyone else that she had ever held close again.

She felt tears well up in her eyes. What hope could be left?

And that's when Hermione felt it; she felt the ropes around her body grow loose, loose enough so that she could move her arms freely. She shot a glance at Ron and Harry, who noticed it too. Harry motioned for them not to make any movements and looked back at Voldemort, who was holding the stone in his grasp.

_How did the ropes loosen_? Hermione asked herself as she watched Voldemort.

"Are the preparations made?" Voldemort asked Wormtail, who was standing next to him shaking.

"Yes, Master."

Voldemort stared back at the items in front of him and then looked up at the tied up teenagers. "Now to dispose of the extras." He wand about to raise his wand when-

"MEOWR!" Out of nowhere sprang out Crookshanks, who pounced on top of Voldemort.

Hermione gasped as she watched her cat slash Voldemort across the face and then knocked the Holy Sorcerer's Stone out of his hand, letting it shatter on the floor. As Voldemort recovered from the attack, Crookshanks leaped up into the air and caught the pendant tossing it over to the group. Using his Seeker reflexes, Harry quickly caught it and released himself from the already loosened ropes with Ron and Hermione doing the same. They turned back at Crookshanks who was back ontop of the dark lord, scratching him to death.

"Get off of me!" Voldemort yelled as he threw Crookshanks away from his body and against the wall. The feline's body went limp as he fell to the ground.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione yelled but was stopped by Voldemort.

"I will kill you all!" He yelled at them as he covered the scratch marks on his head with his hand. He raised his wand slowly and looked at them with his angry red eyes.

"USE THE PENDANT!"

As if on cue, Hermione and Ron placed their hands over Harry's, who held it within his hands. But what were they going to do? They didn't understand how to use it.

And that's when Hermione remembered Kitrina's dying words. "_If you three work together, you can beat him-"_

"Work together," Hermione repeated so that Harry and Ron could hear them. They nodded. It was as if all three of them became one because Hermione could have sworn that she felt the heartbeats of Harry and Ron together along with hers and felt as if their minds merged thinking of the same thing-.

"Avada-" Voldemort's voice rang out into the halls. They wanted revenge for all the horrible things that he had done in the past years. For all the pain, fear, suffering, and death that he had caused the people of this city and around the country.

And they were going to take him out with all they had.

"_CRUCIO!_" They yelled in unison. 

Silence.

Then the pendant glowed and a bright orange beam shot out and straight into the body of Voldemort before he could finish his curse. The shock, pain, and surprise on his face could not have been more apparent as he fell to the ground.  

It took them a second to register what had happened but then a smile came upon their lips. Voldemort, The Dark Lord, was dead.

And they had won.


	16. Chapter 15: The Last Chapter or is it?

Storybook Crisis 

By Gemin16

Disclaimer: Read the last fourteen something odd chapters and I'm sure you'll get the point. If you money-grubbing lawyers don't then I suggest that you deal with my muse, who knows kung-fu, kendo, magic, kempo, karate, and many other various styles of kicking ass. Thank you.

A/N: Last Chapter of this story…….ahhhhh it feels so good to write it. For those of you who have read the first installment, I thank you for staying till the end I know I have gone on and off with this story and then I returned so I thank you yet again for your patience. More author's notes at the end. 

 Thanks to:

DramaPrincess: Yes, it was cool wasn't it? I only wished I owned my own animation studio so that I could animate the scene out. Wouldn't that be so cool! 

Adnap Nottap: LOL, I'm glad you enjoyed it, you were there from the very beginning to this very last chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

Xodox: Thank you very much for the comment, although now my friend won't leave me alone about it.

R/Hr Fan: Yes, I would have to say that was one of the weirdest reviews I've ever gotten but I enjoyed reading it. I hope you're not dead by the way……..

Pansy Potter: I never said he died but maybe I should have killed him (ducks as rotten vegetables are thrown at her) but I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Gillian: Read above for Crookshanks and like I said before, you guys know that I'm not afraid to kill a character so I probably left you in some suspense.

Ferggirl: Hmmmm, it sounds so tempting too. I guess you'll just have to wait to find out and isn't a protective Ron cute? I hope he does that in the future books.

Zoe McArthur: Welcome to the story and thank you for the comment. Yes this is the last chapter of this story but I'm sure you'll be back if you enjoy it.

Chapter 15: The Last Chapter (or is it?)

***********************************************************************************************

Sunshine poured onto Hermione's eyes as she awoke a week later to a pure peaceful sky and a bright sun. The threat was over and the remaining items were safe and life was back to normal.

"Crookshanks get off of me," she said as she pushed her cat off her bed. The cat rolled off and went to go sit at the end of the bed as Hermione sat up and slid out of bed. Linali had been right; their quest would be over before the changing of the seasons. She swore a forest full of falling leaves had never looked so beautiful, everything seemed wonderful and she would never take it for granted. She had seen death straight in the eye and she lived to tell about it.

But exactly how did Voldemort die in the attack? She thought about it over and over again and came to one conclusion. Kitrina had originally said that the pendant's purpose was for one wizard to use multiple spells at once without using his wand but when Hermione and the others had combined their power and had said the exact same attack, their Cruciatus curse had turned into a full blown kill spell by the pendants power. 

Hermione looked at her hands and frowned. It was those hands that were used to kill a person, evil or not, it was still a person whom she had killed. She had never thought about killing a person in her life. It had hit her hard in the last few days, wondering if she had done a terrible crime in doing so. Taking a life was never the decision of another, she had always been taught that. And she went completely against it.

But according to Dumbledore and the other people of the city, Hermione, Harry and Ron had saved them all from what would have been the greatest dark arts rising in almost four centuries and that what they did was wrong, after all they were only defending themselves from the dark lord. In fact they had all been made into honorary heroes of Hogsmeade, getting medals and everything. Even Crookshanks received a medal of honor for his deed. There had been a whole day celebration and everyone was happy.

"But the party would have been better if she were around, wouldn't it, Crookshanks?" Hermione asked her cat as she got changed. He meowed and lifted himself up and went underneath the bed. Hermione looked at what he was doing and watched as he pulled something from underneath her bed. It was a black cloth of some sort. She stood up and went to go see what he found.

"What do you have here?" Hermione asked as she helped him pull whatever it was from under the bed. She gasped as she noticed what it was. It was Kitrina's star blanket wrapped around something huge with a note attached to the top. Hermione slowly took the whole thing within her hands and sat down on the floor with Crookshanks sitting next to her. She picked up the note and read the writing on it.

To Hermione:

"What is it?" Hermione asked as she opened the note all the way. It was about a page in length written in the vixen's bubbly print.

**Dear 'Mione,**

If your reading this now, then chances are that the note that W.T. sent me was nothing more than a trap and that I'm no longer here. I also hope that if your are reading this letter, that old Voldie is dead and that all the items are safe, if you aren't then please hit Crookshanks on head for me because he was supposed to show this to you after you won. (Did you ever think I would have any other doubts?)

**Wrapped in my blanket is a gift that I want you to have. You're a very special girl, Hermione, and without you we certainly wouldn't have been able to gain all of Master's items back. I'm sure in the land that you came from your one of the smartest, prettiest, and clever girls there. I'm so glad we became good friends. **

**Now do me a favor. Open up the blanket and inside you should find two books. Got it? Good. The top book is the thickest of them both and is a spell book that you should take with you when go home. It's filled with so many spells, charms, and curses that my head almost started spinning after the first chapter. There is a reason why it's called the ultimate book of spells, ya know.**

**The second book, Hermione, is the most important one. When you read the title I'm sure you'll recognize it and yes it is the very exact book that you read before you came into our world. It's the key to getting you back to where you came from. All you have to do is read the final enchantment at the end of the book and you'll return home. I know how much you want to return and this is the least I can do for you. **

**I'm extremely proud to have known you and everyone else. Please give them my regards and that I'm eternally grateful for what you, Ron, and Harry have done for my master and me. I have to go know and choke whatever secrets W.T. might have for me about that last item.**

**Ciao,**

**Kitrina**

P.S. When you and Arrow-boy finally get married and have little Arrowboys and Arrowgirls of your own, name one after me!

**Bye-bye,**

**Kitrina**

Hermione wiped the falling tears form her eyes as she slowly closed the letter and looked at the two books that Kitrina had left her. She would leave the book for good and get back to the real world. She could now go home and see her family and teachers but-

Did she want to?

***

"You would have loved it, Kitrina. Everyone was happy that he was finally dead and everyone is at peace now. I hope you are too," Hermione said softly as she laid a bundle of sunflowers at her friend's grave. The burial was only six days ago but it felt like it was yesterday. Knowing that Kitrina would have been happy with the idea, they decided to bury her body right next to Kalvin's. She smiled at the thought of the vixen hugging Kalvin to death wherever they were. At least they were both happy together.

"But what about me?" Hermione said to herself. "Will I stay here or will I go home?" The quest was over but the story wasn't or Hermione would have gone home by now. Would she and Ron be separated forever and never see each other again? She honestly wanted to know. Here she was in a land of paradise for her, full of magic and people she loved. Should she stay or should she go? It was a heart wrenching decision that plagued her ever since reading Kitrina's note.

"Hello, Hermione."

Hermione turned around to see the graceful figure of Rosaline behind her carrying a bundle of flowers. "Hello, Rosaline. Came to pay your respects."

Rosaline smiled softly. "Yes I am. I never did get to pay my respects during the actual funerals." She stepped along side near Hermione and placed flowers on Kalvin's and Kitrina's graves.

"Your paying respects to Kalvin?" Hermione asked. "But isn't he the one who kept you captive? I thought you would hate him."

"Maybe I should hate him for what he did to me but he never abused or harmed me in anyway. It was his father whom I hate, for he was the one who imprisoned me, all Kalvin did was keep the only family member he had ever had. I raised him like a house elf might and I helped him in the years following his adulthood. He had saved my life in many ways, during our missions." She bent down in front of Kalvin's grave and nodded her head down.

Hermione watched in silence as Rosaline finished with Kalvin and went on to Kitrina's grave. In the days following the death of Voldemort, Hermione and the others had gotten to know Rosaline better as a person. She was an extremely beautiful person, in mind and in body. A middle aged woman with long shiny brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes that sparkled, kind hearted, gentle and always willing to help someone. She cried on hearing of Kalvin's death and also cried after hearing about Kitrina's death. Hermione swore she had never met a more wonderful woman than her.

"Thank you," Hermione heard Rosaline say as she stood off and dusted her robes.

"To who, Kitrina?" 

Rosaline nodded. "Yes, I never got to meet her face to face but I already know that I would have liked her. She truly healed Kalvin's heart by doing whatever she did. Sirius and Remus told me what he did for her and I know for a fact that he would never had done that for anyone else. For doing that, I'm eternally grateful."

Hermione thought for a moment. "Rosaline?"

"Yes?"

"If you had the chance to go home after going to another world that you loved more than anything, would you go back?"

Rosaline blinked. "Sorry?"

"Perhaps I should elaborate," Hermione said. "I'm sure you were told of how I came here right?"

"I think something about you being a foreigner, correct?"

_That's about as simple as it gets_, Hermione thought to herself. "Yes."

"Well I certainly would like to go home, especially if I liked it there. Why?"

Hermione looked down at the ground. "Well you see I have a chance to go home."

"What's the problem then?"

"I might never be able to return again."

"Oh I see. Well what awaits you at home?"

"My parents, my pro- er friends, and the lifestyle that I was accustomed to and known for the past sixteen years of my life. Basically everything."

"And what awaits you here?"

"Friends and my lifestyle now. It's so much different from what my life was at home, I'm happy here. But I was also happy at home with my parents. I honestly want to stay here but I can't just leave my mother and father to worry sick about me."

"I would have to say that if I were your parents, I would want to see my daughter again. You could think of that but if you are truly torn between deciding then write all the positives and negatives of staying and leaving. Look at them both, weigh all the facts, and make your decision."

Hermione nodded, considering Rosaline's suggestion. She ran over and hugged the older woman. "Thank you so much, Rosaline, you really helped me out."

Hermione ran from the cemetery and back to her room, she would go do that now. 

***

Crookshanks rubbed his body against Hermione's leg and purred as his master sat at her desk writing. Noticing that she wasn't responding to his constant purring, the cat jumped on top of her desk and read what she had written. He meowed again and watched as Hermione focused on him.

"This really isn't fair," she said as she rubbed Crookshank's ear. "Both places on my list have equal positives and negatives. If only I could find another reason to add to either side then I could make my decision." She looked out the window and watched as the people of Hogsmeade went on with their daily lives. Adults were laughing, children were playing, everyone was happy.

"I sometimes wish I was this happy back home, you know back to normal except a little more exciting, too bad I couldn't get a second chance." Hermione blinked. 

A second chance.

Hermione had just completed her list.

***

"You're going back home?" Dumbledore asked Hermione as she stood before the council.

"Yes. The book has reappeared before me and I'm ready to go home so I can get a second chance," Hermione told the elders.

"I see," Dumbledore said, nodding. "Then you wish to leave in two nights?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes."

Dumbledore stood up and addressed everyone in the hall. "Very well then. Two nights from now, we will have a feast to bid farewell to one of the heroes." The hall roared with cheers and everyone began talking at once. Hermione noticed Harry and Ron standing in the corner and also saw the sad expressions written on both their faces. 

She bit her lip and sighed. _This is for the best, right? Then why is it so hard?_

***

Over the next two days, Hermione did everything she could to spend as much time with the people that she had grown close to over the past months. She went shopping with Ginny and Lisa, some reflection on magic with her professor, McGonagall, and even spent a good half day learning the ways of Quidditch from Harry. She wished many people good-bye and they wished her good luck in retuned. But there was one person that Hermione hadn't seen since she made her announcement.

Ron.

Hermione honestly wanted to spend some time with him but that would be hard if she couldn't find him. There was neither hide nor hair of him at all. It hurt her the most to leave him behind especially with how their relationship grew.  But what was their relationship? Was it meant to be? 

When you and Arrow boy finally get married and have little Arrowboys and Arrowgirls of your own, name one after me!

Hermione gave a small laugh. Kitrina had such faith in them but would her request come true? Those thoughts and more haunted Hermione's mind as she traveled to the one place where Ron could be. The Forbidden Forest.

As she walked up the hill, she saw Hagrid's Cottage chimney give off smoke with Hagrid outside fixing his flute. "Hello, Hagrid," she called out to him.

Hagrid lifted his hairy head up and smiled a her. "Good day to you, 'ermione. What's this I be hearing bout you leaving us to go back home?"

"I am, I'm leaving tonight actually."

"It's a good thing you stopped by, I have something to give you." He ran inside and came back out with a package wrapped in a handkerchief. "It's a batch of my rockcakes that I baked this morning just fer you." He sniffed as he handed them to her. "I'm going to miss you, 'ermione."

Hermione felt herself get emotional as Hagrid swallowed her up into a hug. "I'm going to miss you too, Hagrid." He let go off her and both of them wiped away their tears. Hermione was the first to recover. "Has Ron been by?"

"He went into the forest almost three hours ago, if yer looking for 'im."

"Thank you, I hope I'll see you at the feast."

"Wouldn't miss it."

Nodding and holding her package close, she ran into the forest looking for Ron. Of course given the area of the forest it would have taken her hours to find him and she only had five hours till she had to leave. She ran across the forest hoping to glimpse one strand of red hair. She just wanted a chance to say good-bye and find out what she really meant to him.

***

Two hours had passed and Hermione wasn't any closer to finding him. Tears came to eyes as she leaned against a tree. It wasn't fair. 

"Ron," she said crying softly.

"SQUEAK!"

Hermione turned her head up to see a female fairy flying above her. She recognized her to be one of the fairy's of Levira's tribe. "What do you want?" she asked wiping her tears away.

"Squeak."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I can't speak fairy. What are you trying to tell me?"

"Squeak! Squeak!"

Hermione whined in frustration. "Would you go away?! I'm trying to find Ron!" She blinked in surprise as the fairy went into a fit of squeaks. "What is it already!" Hermione yelled when her patience had ran out.

The fairy raised her hands up in the air and made a familiar motion. It looked like an archer shooting an arrow.

Hermione's face broke out into a wave of anticipation. "You know where he is?"

"SQUEAK!" Hermione took that as a flat out yes.

"Will you take me to him?"

The fairy flew off with Hermione running behind her as fast as she could. 

Up in a tree near by, Levira giggled as she watched the scene below. She squeaked at the person sitting next to her.

"I agree, I couldn't miss this for the world!"

***

Hermione ran and ran, following the fairy to wherever she led her. She hoped that it wasn't a trick, that she was really being led to Ron. She didn't know what she would do if it was but she also didn't know what to do if it wasn't.

Finally the fairy stopped and looked back at her, motioning for her to stay silent. Hermione did as she was asked. Somewhere nearby, she heard the thump of something hitting wood. Her heart skipped a beat. It was the sound of an arrow hitting wood!

"Thank you," she told the fairy softly. The fairy nodded her head and flew away. Knowing what she needed to do, Hermione started walk closer to the sound. She looked through the trees and finally saw Ron, standing twenty feet away from a thick tree full of arrows. She watched as he fitted another one to his bow and raised it up to shoot the tree. He let go and let it fly and hit the tree, dead in the middle like the others. He stopped for a second.

Gathering up her thoughts, she took in a deep breath. "Ron."

He jumped at the sound of her voice and turned to look at her, shock written all over his face. "Her-Hermione?! What are you doing here?"

She stepped out into the clearing. "I was looking for you. I've been trying to find you all day."

He looked away. "Well I've been here all the time."

"I know. Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Why do you want to leave?"

Hermione bit her lip. She was afraid that he would have asked her that, but chances were that he wouldn't understand. "Because I am," she said softly.

Ron looked back at her. "What?"

"Because I am, Ron. I need to get back home to my real life, where my family is and my normal life is."

"But didn't you say that you were happy here!" he said loudly, almost to the point of yelling. "You told me that you were happy here with Harry, Ginny, and me! Why are you going back?"

"Because it's my home, Ron! I need to go back home!" She yelled back at him.

He just looked at her, not knowing what to say next.

Hermione continued. "I am happy and I do love it here but I want to know if I could be as happy back home as I was here. I'm getting a second chance to start over. I could make more friends and try harder to make my life more interesting. I need to leave this book and get back to my reality." She felt hot tears pour down her cheeks. He didn't know how hard he was making it for her, almost making her want to say. She looked back at him. "Why were you avoiding me?"

Ron looked down at his bow. "I didn't want to say good-bye, Hermione. I didn't want to see you leave here knowing that I would never you see you again." He dropped his bow and went to go embrace her in a strong hug. "Hermione, I love you."

Hermione's heart stopped as she heard those three words. How could she possibly leave now?

"You know with the way you two are blubbering, you would think that you would never see each other again. I swear any more sap in this scene and I'll turn into a tree," a cheerful voice said.

"But we-" Ron and Hermione looked up at each other. There was only one person with a voice like that. They looked above into the trees only to see the gray liquid form of their close friend.

There on a tree branch sat Kitrina looking down at her friends with a playful smile on her face. Her robes were exactly the same as they were the moment she had died.

"Kitrina-you're, you're," Ron tried to say but Kitrina cut him off.

"Yepperu, as dead as a doornail. See." She floated through the branch and down to the floor. "I know, I know, I should be sleeping the big sleep now but I couldn't rest until I made sure all of you were okay."

"Oh."

"It's good to see you again, Kitrina?" Hermione said after she got over the shock of seeing her friend again.

Kitrina crossed her arms and leaned against the tree. "Same on this end, 'Mione. So tell this little vixen why you two are blubbering like you'll never see each other again."

"Hermione's leaving!" Ron snapped at her.

Kitrina shrugged. "So?" 

Hermione looked at the vixen. "Once I say that passage the story will end and I'll never be able to return inside the book if the story is over."

Kitrina blinked. "You mean you still haven't figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

Kitrina gave a small laugh. "Oops."

"What do you mean "oops"?" Ron said with an annoyed tone. Even beyond the dead she could be annoying.

"I guess I forgot to mention that the book was actually a Portkey activated by the passage."

"Are you serious?" Ron yelled. 

"As much as I like to joke, no. I'm dead serious." She laughed at her pun.

"So that means I can come back?" Hermione asked.

Kitrina nodded, noting the hope in Hermione's voice. "Yes, 'Mione. That does mean you can come back." Kitrina almost felt like crying out in glee as she saw the look between the couple. "But there's one little problem-"

Ron looked at her with a hard glare. "What do you mean problem?"

Kitrina smiled sheepishly. "Ya see the Portkey will need some time to reenergize. You know to replace the magic that was used up."

Hermione bit her lip. "How long will that take?"

Kitrina recoiled knowing the reaction to her answer. "Ummmm-three to four years."

"What!" Ron said. "That long!"

Kitrina winced. "Well it makes sense once you think about it. A Portkey to get to another world requires more magic than a normal Portkey. But it'll all be worth it in the end, right? You and Hermione won't be separated for life and you'll eventually get to see each other and get married and have kids and then name one after me….."

A reddened Ron and Hermione looked at her. "Excuse me?" Ron asked.

Kitrina smiled broadly at Hermione. "She can explain it to you. I'll leave you two alone now." She rubbed the back of her head and looked at them with a sad smile. "I guess this is good-bye then," she said softly.

"But aren't you a ghost?" Hermione asked her.

The vixen shook her head. "Only until my business is done. It's time that I get my long needed rest, I'll leave this plane for good once I pay a visit to lightning boy and Crookshanks."

Hermione and Ron's expression grew sad as they realized what she had said. "Thank you for everything," Hermione told her, letting her tears fall down freely.

Kitrina smiled broadly. "No, it is I who should thank you. Master's items are safe now because of you three. I only wish there was some other way I could thank you."

"You have," Ron told her, holding Hermione closer to him. "You honestly have."

Nodding, Kitrina started to float upwards. "See ya!" She faded into the tree.

Hermione wiped her eyes, glad to see her friend one last time. Kitrina had never failed to make them smile and this was one of those times where she proved it.

Hermione could come back!

***

"Are you ready, Ms. Granger?"

"I am." Hermione grabbed her things and smiled sadly looking at everyone, waving good-bye. She gave one last hug to Ron and Harry and stepped forward to where the book lay, turned to its last page. 

She looked at the words of the passage, written like they were on the first page. Crookshanks jumped next to her and looked at the book as she read.

_Welcome back, fair reader for you have survived,_

_the challenge that weathered your spirit and mind._

_Courage was tested,_

_knowledge proven true,_

_Faith became present,_

_And friendship stood._

_You proven yourself worthy, to enter our world,_

_A place where your hair will frizzle and your moustache can curl,_

_And showed what magic you behold._

_You met up with Goblins-_

_With Giants you laughed -_

_Seen Mermaids with fins-_

_And faeries and pixies, whom have danced._

_Unicorns of virtue-_

_Centaurs of secrecy-_

_Witches full of cleverness-_

_Wizards solving mysteries._

_Adventures you've experienced-_

_danger being faced,_

_Surprise and shock have come,_

_Sadness taking its place._

_With the lessons you have learned,_

_And the new life that you discovered-_

_It is time for you to return,_

_Saying good-bye to one another._

_But fear not yon reader,_

_For in a while or two-_

_The book will reopen-_

_And "Welcome Back", we'll say to you._

_So wave good-bye to the comrades,_

_So long to those you know,_

_Give a kiss to some,_

_And the love you hold._

_Until the time when you read again-_

_It's time to go,_

_So long, Dear Friend._

_For this simple charm, all you do is clap,_

_Hold your hands together,_

_Don't put them in your lap._

_Now in your mind, count to four-_

_And out loud, say once again_

_Transporadore._

Doing as she was asked, Hermione performed the task. The rooms filled with a light and Hermione felt her mind once again go blank.

***

"Meow."

Hermione felt her hand being lick by a rough tongue and she slowly opened her eyes. "Huh, what happened?"

"Meow." Hermione lifted up her head and looked in surprise at her surroundings.

She was back in her old room, sitting at her old desk. Her bed was in the same place, her bookshelf still neatly arranged, her coat still lying in a heap on her bed. Everything was just as she left it.

"Was it a dream?" She asked herself. "Was Kitrina lying?" She continued to think but her thoughts became interrupted by Crookshanks pulling at her clothes.

"Crookshanks leave my robes alone!" She stopped. Did she just say robes? Hermione quickly stood up, realizing that she was still dressed in robes! Not only that but in her lap had sat the bag containing everything that she had taken back with her. The books, the trinkets, Kitrina's star blanket, and even her wand. Everything had come back with her. She looked back at her desk and saw the book lying calmly at her desk. 

She slowly opened the book up and looked at the very first page where she had first read the passage, wondering if it was still there. 

The page was blank.

Hermione frowned, but noticed something small upon the page. It was the letter "W".

"She said I had to wait three to four years to return," she told Crookshanks, who meowed in return.

She closed the book slowly as she looked outside. The sky was clear blue, with no signs of the fierce storm that she left behind, birds were singing and people were outside. Hermione smiled. She could get a second chance at this life, to make it better and more fun, to make new friends and learn new hobbies.

"And I can't wait till I go back." 

***********************************************************************************************

I guess that only means one thing……..

To be continued in Storybook Return! 

Three and a half years after leaving the magical world, Hermione reopens the book to return to the life that she once left. Lovelorn foreigners, babies, and even reincarnations- and that's only the good side of her return.


End file.
